Jutsu Creation Specialist: Uzumaki Naruto
by Sunset Moth
Summary: [Slight FF Xover] Naruto is the heir of a powerful clan that specializes in jutsu creation and jutsu manipulation. Jiro, a man whose bloodline is to summon beasts called Aeons, wants to adopt him. Features new teammates and more.
1. Chapter 1

Jutsu Creation Specialist: Uzumaki Naruto  
Gide Thomas

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: I'm sorry if I haven't updated Morning Glory. I guess, right now, this was just easier to write.

Warning: Littered with OC's. Or not.

* * *

Naruto glared at the passers-by and scuffed his foot on the cobblestone. 

"But I don't want to take care of that brat!" A screech came from inside the bar. Naruto winced and watched silently as his latest caretaker, a woman in her late fifties, stormed out of the small bar and through the crowd.

The Third Hokage sighed as he stepped out of the small bar. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I'll try to look for a new one as soon as possible."

Naruto looked up at the Third and made a face. "Can't I just live on my own? It's not like anyone wants to take me in anyway."

The Third frowned. "But you're only five, Naruto."

"I can already cook," Naruto pointed out indignantly and pouted.

"But—"

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," A voice from the shadows said. It came from a man with unruly orange hair and green eyes. He wore a forehead protector wrapped around his neck and a green flak jacket that jounins and chuunins often wore. Naruto's eyes widened.

"Good morning, Jiro," the Third Hokage said and smiled wearily.

"Looks like—"

"Jiro-san has the coolest hair!" Naruto said and bounced in front of the jounin, his grin wide.

Jiro raised an eyebrow and smiled. His face turned blank as he saw the familiar whisker-marked cheeks. Naruto saw this and quickly closed his eyes. He knew that look; it was the look that the villagers often had on before they hit him.

It didn't come.

Naruto opened his eyes and frowned. Jiro was looking at him oddly. He opened his mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say.

"Naruto, I want you to go to your apartment and stay there. We will discuss your new caretaker later," The Third Hokage said.

"Hai," Naruto said and sighed. "See ya, Jiro-san!"

They watched the bouncy kid go and smiled in amusement. Jiro turned to the Third with a frown on his lips.

"Hokage-sama, I wish to talk to you."

"Hmm? About what?" The Hokage asked as they began walking towards the Hokage's tower.

"About Naruto."

The Third raised an eyebrow and saw Jiro's features harden. "Let's talk inside my office."

* * *

"Well?" The Hokage asked as he sat on his chair. 

"Hokage-sama, I need permission to access the Uzumaki estates." Jiro said and folded his arms.

The Hokage frowned. "What for?"

"I owe Naruto a lot, Hokage-sama, and you know that." Jiro said quietly. "If it wasn't for my father's mistake than the Kyuubi incident would never have happened. If I could find the family scrolls in the Uzumaki estates and study them, I can help Naruto. I can teach him about his heritage."

The Hokage looked at him gravely. "It isn't your fau—"

"Oh really?" Jiro asked and clenched his fists. "But still. I should be the one hurting. Not Naruto. People should hate _me_ instead." Jiro looked pleadingly at the Hokage. "It's the only way I can repay him for taking in the monster my father summoned."

"Jiro," The Hokage said softly. "What you are asking me is too big a favor. If people found out about this they would accuse you of stealing the Uzumakis' secrets."

"Hokage-sama, what if I make Naruto as my heir?"

The Hokage lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure of this, Jiro?"

"I _am _the only Kyozuka left." Jiro reminded him. "And I'm not planning to marry any time soon, so…" He trailed off and looked at the Third hopefully.

Third sighed and rubbed his temple. "Are you planning to teach him about his _other_ heritage?"

"The Kazama legacy? No." Jiro said and shook his head. The Third opened his mouth to ask another question but stopped when he saw Jiro raise his hand. "You and I both know that the Kazama family was never deemed worthy as a clan. Even though they have been giving this village decent ninjas, no one ever stood out in terms of power."

"Only Arashi," The Hokage whispered softly.

"Hai, only Arashi-sama," Jiro nodded. "Another reason why they were not considered as a clan is because they had no bloodline. This means that even though Naruto is a Kazama from his mother's side, he will not possess anything peculiar from their clan except perhaps the trademark: spiky yellow hair."

"And as I remembered, he never did write down his techniques," The Hokage added.

"Correct. This is why when he died, his techniques died with him. There is no Kazama legacy."

The Third Hokage nodded and looked outside one of his windows. He sighed and grabbed a scroll and began writing. After writing his name with a flourish, he rolled the scroll and handed it to a waiting Jiro. "I am giving you permission not only to enter the Uzumaki estates but also to renovate the place as you please."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Jiro said and bowed.

"Will you be taking care of Naruto?" Hokage asked hopefully.

Jiro shook his head and sighed. "Not right now. I have to study the scrolls first and talk with the Elders. If they agreed, then that is the only time that I will take Naruto under my wing."

"Very well," Hokage said and nodded sadly.

"I think you should take Naruto on his offer by letting him live on his own." Jiro said and smiled. "But if I were you, have someone teach him how to cook different kinds of food; the only thing he knows how to cook is instant ramen."

"Really?" The Hokage asked. "How did you know?"

"I've been spying on him for a couple of days now," Jiro said offhandedly and shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for giving me this opportunity, Hokage-sama," The man smiled, saluted, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The Hokage smiled wearily as his thoughts turned to Naruto. _Now who should assign to keep an eye on that kid while Jiro's busy? _A certain spandex-wearing jounin came into his mind. He picked up his pipe and puffed.

* * *

Liked it? Hated it? 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Naruto stretched tiredly and sighed. Having Gai as his sort-of guardian wasn't really a bad thing; but the guy kept on forcing him to wear green spandex and spouting off nonsense about the flaming youth and crap.

He shook his head and walked towards the Academy tiredly. The weights felt heavy in his arms and legs but he ignored them. He was used to it by now.

He arrived at his classroom on time and dragged himself to the farthest seat from the board. Hopefully, he could catch some sleep before the teacher came.

"Ohayo," Iruka greeted his students.

Naruto made a face and hit the table. Or not.

* * *

Jiro jumped to another tree and watched the Academy from afar. It had taken him two years to study the Uzumakis' jutsus but the study was worth it. All he needed now was to wait for Naruto.

The bell ringed loud and clear. Jiro jumped from his perch and landed nimbly from the tree. He calmly walked towards the Academy and leaned against a wall as he waited for the young blonde.

"Gomen, gomen, Iruka-sensei," a loud voice was heard from the vicinity.

"Sorry isn't enough, Naruto," Iruka said and glared at his young student. "If you want to sleep then do it at home. School is for learning."

Naruto pouted, "You scare me, Sensei."

Iruka sighed and scratched his head. "Just try to stay awake next time ok, Naruto?"

"Hai," Naruto said and grinned. "See ya tomorrow, Sensei!"

Jiro appeared from the shadow of a large tree and smiled. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned around and squinted. He frowned. Suddenly, he beamed and ran towards Jiro. "Jiro-san!"

Jiro grinned. "Glad you still remember me, kiddo."

"Your hair is so cool, Jiro-san," Naruto said and grinned back. "How I could I not remember you?"

"Want to walk with me, Naruto?" Jiro asked. "Afterwards, we can even go to that favorite ramen stand of yours."

"Sure!" Naruto grabbed Jiro's hand and pulled him. "Where will we go?"

Jiro shrugged. "Anywhere's fine, Naruto," he said. "Actually, I just want to talk to you about something."

The blonde ninja trainee nodded. "So, what's up?"

Jiro hesitated. "Do you," he cleared his throat, "do you live with someone?"

"Nah," Naruto said and looked down at the stoned pathway. "I live alone." He looked up and tilted his head, "You sure ask weird questions, Jiro-san."

"I was just wondering," Jiro said and looked away at those inquisitive eyes. "After we get some ramen, want me to train you?"

"You really are acting weird, Jiro-san," Naruto frowned. "Are you drugs?"

"Pardon?" Jiro asked.

"Gomen, gomen," Naruto said and made a face. "It's a line I hear often."

Jiro nodded. "I'm asking you this because," he looked seriously at Naruto. "I know it's a little early, especially considering the fact that you really don't know me much but—"

"But what?" Naruto asked. "Get to the point already!"

"Can I adopt you?" Jiro managed to blurt out.

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're not joking, are you?"

Jiro shook his head. "I really want to."

"But you don't even know me!" Naruto said and settled on top of a stool, ordering a miso ramen before staring at Jiro again.

"I feel partly responsible for your father's death so... even if I don't know you; I'm still willing to look after you." Jiro explained.

"You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No, but—"

"Then it's alright," Naruto cut in and grinned. "You don't have to repay me or something."

Jiro sighed but decided not to speak as he picked up his chopsticks and started to eat.

There was silence for what seemed to be a minute as both munched on their respective ramen. Finally, Jiro broke it by asking, "You will think about it, right?"

Naruto nodded seriously and smiled. "I will." He looked at Jiro with his puppy dog eyes and said, "Even if I haven't decided yet, can you still train me? I want to learn as many jutsus as I can and become Hokage someday so I'd really appreciate the help."

Jiro nodded.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted and punched the air.

* * *

Jiro stood on top of the flowing river, his arms crossed. "This is the water-walking exercise. If you want your chakra control to become better then you have to learn how to do this first."

Naruto nodded vigorously and jumped towards the river. He fell into the water.

Jiro winced and sighed. "You don't even know how to use chakra, do you?"

Naruto's head popped up from the river. "Gomen, Jiro-sensei."

Jiro sighed and grabbed his young student by the collar. He pulled him up and placed him back to the ground. "Here's how you do it, Naruto." He placed his fingers in a tiger seal and called forth chakra from within. "Can you see the chakra, Naruto?"

"Is it that blue thing that's surrounding you?" Naruto asked and scratched his cheek in confusion.

Jiro nodded. "Now, before I show you how to walk on water, why don't we try calling that chakra of yours?"

"Hai, Sensei," Naruto said and grinned. He placed his hands together and tried to call his chakra.

Jiro felt a sweatdrop coming and tried to stop it. The sweatdrop won. "Neh, Naruto."

Naruto looked up and frowned. "What is it, Jiro-sensei? I'm trying to concentrate here."

"Uh," Jiro scratched his head and said, "Your fingers, they're in the wrong position."

Naruto looked up, "Really?" He looked at his hands, they were facing each other, palms spread out like he was praying.

"Yep," Jiro said and did the tiger seal. "This is how you do it, Naruto. Didn't the Academy teach you anything?"

Naruto made a face. "I was probably asleep when they studied about chakra."

Jiro smacked his head with his hand and looked at his student. "And why were you asleep?"

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms. "Hey, it's not easy you know. Gai-sensei always makes me train 'til midnight then he wakes me up at dawn just to train me again."

"Gai? The taijutsu expert?" Jiro asked.

Naruto nodded. "Yup, the old man, Hokage, asked him to look after me."

"So that's why the kid's wearing weights." Jiro murmured to himself. He went towards Naruto and showed him how the tiger seal was made. "This is how one normally calls for his chakra. It's the most basic of seals," Jiro explained.

"Hai," Naruto said and did the tiger seal, this time, his finger positions were correct.

"Now, I want you to sit on the floor and feel for your chakra," Jiro said and sat besides Naruto.

It took Naruto a couple of minutes to sense his chakra. When he finally felt it, he called all of it out. Jiro smacked him in the head.

"Itai!" Naruto shouted. "What the heck did you that for? I finally found my chakra when you smacked me in the head, Sensei! Now I have to find it again."

"Baka, you shouldn't call out so much," Jiro said and glared at his blonde student. "You wanna get tired easily?"

"Oh," Naruto scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Gomen, Sensei." He closed his eyes and concentrated, beads of sweat clung to his forehead. Blue chakra appeared from Naruto's body.

"Now, I want you to pour your chakra on your feet," Jiro said. "But don't put too much."

"How do you do that, Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Guide it," Jiro answered.

"Hai," Naruto said. Jiro could see the chakra flow towards Naruto's feet.

"That's enough, Naruto," Jiro said. "Now, try walking on the water."

Naruto nodded and moved towards the river, his hands were still shaped in a tiger seal. Jiro sighed at this but didn't point it out.

Naruto stepped in the water and grinned. He was actually standing on top of it. "Yes! I did it." Naruto punched the air and felt himself sink. "Jiro-sensei!"

Jiro sighed and grabbed his student once more, dragging him out of the water. "You lost your concentration, Baka."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. "I'm not an idiot."

Jiro smiled. "Of course not, it was just a slip of the tongue. Now try it again."

* * *

Naruto struggled to keep the chakra on his feet constant when Jiro appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto," Jiro called to his young student.

With a yelp, the blonde plunged into the river. After a moment or two, his head appeared. "Teme! Why did you have to break my concentration?" He placed both of his hands on the ground and dragged himself from the water.

Jiro ignored the expletives coming out of Naruto's mouth and dropped a large duffel bag on the ground. "I'll be going away on a mission, Naruto. I don't know when I'll be back so," he patted the bag and grinned, "you'll be studying on your own for a while."

Naruto shook off the water that clung around his body, glad that he wasn't wearing anything except his shorts. It was his fourth time that day to have fallen on the river. He walked towards the bag and opened it. "What are these, Sensei?"

"Scrolls, Naruto," Jiro said.

Naruto pulled two small scrolls from the bag and looked at them with curiosity. "What about the water-walking exercise?"

"Finish the water-walking exercise first," Jiro answered.

"Ok," Naruto grinned. "Before you go, can you do me a favor?"

Jiro's eye twitched at Naruto's expression but nodded all the same. "Depends on what it is."

Naruto grabbed Jiro's hand and punched the air. "Ramen stand, here we come!"

"I said: it depends!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

It had been three months since Jiro had left, leaving Naruto to study alone. In two weeks, the blonde ninja-in-training had mastered the water-walking technique. In another two, he had learned his very first technique: the henge.

Let's just say it did not bode well for our villagers who were, most of the time, at the receiving end of Naruto's pranks.

After a month and a half, he had learned Kawarimi and a fire jutsu. The bunshin scroll was deliberately ignored. In two months, he had learned that he could walk up a tree using his chakra. This had something to do with Iruka and Gai chasing after him. Iruka, because of the trip-wire Naruto set on the hallways and Gai, because Naruto bluntly _refused_ the latest spandex suit that Gai had just bought.

---

Naruto was doing sit-ups on top of the water, sweat trickling down his face. From out of nowhere, Gai-sensei had appeared, struck a pose and jumped on top of a log, his hands placed on his hips. "Naruto-kun, where are you?"

One glance and Naruto's concentration disappeared, making him fall into the cold water. He did a henge and turned into a dog. Paddling out of the water, he ran for his life once he set foot on the ground. He looked back and saw that Gai-sensei wasn't there. He turned around and bumped into something hard.

"A stray dog without a collar!" The voice was enthusiastic, making Naruto flinch. "I must bring you to the pound at once!"

He whined and tried to run but Gai-sensei managed to catch his tail and pulled it. Hard.

He cancelled his technique and looked at his sensei fearfully. His hand was inching for the kunai on his hip holster.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! I have found you, at last!" Gai-sensei had burst into tears and grabbed Naruto's hands. "I will never let go of these hands until I have finished your training!"

---

Naruto leaned against a tree and took deep breaths. He had managed to escape Gai-sensei's wrath. How? He himself did not know.

He wiped the sweat off his face and made for the apartment.

---

His hand reached for the switch and was surprised to see Jiro, Gai, Iruka, and another man sitting by his dinner table. Jiro stood up and grinned.

"Know what today is?" The orange-haired Jounin asked.

Naruto looked at him blankly. "The day you come back from your mission?"

"Well, I guess you could say that but, it's actually your birthday today." Jiro explained and grinned.

Naruto looked at his calendar and saw that it was the 10th of October. He closed his eyes and grinned, his hand scratching his head. "Well, it is, isn't it?"

"So we decided to give you a birthday party!" Gai said and made a pose.

A knock was heard from the door. Naruto turned around and opened it. Sure enough, it was Ayame, carrying a large ramen box. The girl smiled. "Happy birthday, Naruto. Dad told me to bring this for you."

Naruto wordlessly accepted the ramen box. Jiro went beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Will you be joining us?" Jiro asked.

Ayame shook her head and answered politely, "I still have to deliver a couple of things. A lot of people are celebrating today." She bowed and left.

Jiro narrowed his eyes for a moment and sighed, looking away from the door. "The festival."

"The festival?" Naruto asked.

"To celebrate the fall of the demon fox, Kyuubi," Jiro explained and smiled weakly. "Why don't we start eating?"

"Ok," Naruto answered back and went to the cabinet for some bowls. He took out five of them and juggled them towards the table.

Naruto paused in front of the man who had black hair and white eyes. He turned towards Jiro and asked. "Neh, Jiro-san, who's he?"

"That is Hyuuga Haru, one of my ex-teammates. He's a Jounin-sensei now," Jiro explained and smiled wryly. "I thought I might invite him to the party."

"Cool," Naruto said and grinned at the Hyuuga who had stiffened a bit. "Are you related to Hinata-san?"

"Ie, no," he answered and shook his head. "I am a branch member."

Naruto frowned. _What's a branch member? _He looked at Jiro and Iruka who were looking at him expectantly. _I'll pretend I know what's going on so they won't think I'm an idiot. _He grinned at Haru. "Cool."

---

Naruto yawned and slipped on the bed, his mind still on the party. It had been one of the best moments in his life, second only to when he had discovered Ichiraku. He pulled his nightcap on and looked at the gifts on the foot of his bed.

He had gotten a new set of kunai from Iruka and a small genjutsu scroll to make things inconspicuous. From Jiro, it was a box of clothes that fitted Naruto better and was _cool_. From Hyuuga Haru, it was a chart of the human anatomy with the vital points and organs highlighted. And lastly, from Gai, a pair of daggers that could be joined together. It also had a simple mechanism which made the daggers longer.

Naruto was clearly surprised when Gai had given him that; the last two years, he wasn't so lucky. When he had turned eight the man had given him a ticket for a free _bowl_ cut, claiming that Naruto's hair made it hard for him to see properly. To get the man to stop fussing, he had bought a pair of cheap goggles which was positioned on top of his head.

When he had turned nine, it was a sort of cream-like substance that would make Naruto's eyebrows larger and fuzzier. He had _accidentally _dumped it on Iruka's eyebrows. Naruto had detention for a month.

But this year was different. He was expecting the latest spandex suit in the market or something that would make his teeth sparkle every time he smiled. Or even a book on the different Nice Guy poses. Instead, he got a pair of daggers that would make any other ten year-old jealous.

After Gai had given Naruto his gift, Jiro had whispered in Naruto's ear of how he managed to _persuade_ Gai to buy something that didn't involve becoming a mirror image or a clone of the flashy ninja.

Naruto grinned and whispered silently. "Thanks, Jiro-sensei."

---

Naruto examined himself in the mirror. He was wearing a black shirt underneath a blue vest with an orange spiral at the back. It also had a small red fox curled at the lower left and had pockets the size of Naruto's hands.

He was wearing a pair of dark blue armbands with slits on the sides where weights can be inserted. There was a large square metal on each band which can be used for defense. He wore a pair of blue pants which he folded a few inches below his knees. These gave space for the metal leg protectors strapped on his calves. Weights were also inserted in the sides. The last thing to be noted was a pair of black sandals that matched the black goggles he also wore on top of his forehead, replacing the goggles he had bought two years ago.

He grinned. He looked really _cool._ He was a bit disappointed that his clothes did not possess as much orange as it used to but hey, beggars can't be choosers, right?

He looked at the clock on top of his drawer and smiled. He still had a couple of minutes before classes started. Because it was his birthday yesterday, Gai had given him one day of vacation.

He stretched. Maybe for once, he wouldn't fall asleep in class.

---

"What do you think you're doing, falling asleep again?" Iruka shouted angrily at his blonde student.

The blonde ninja trainee looked up blearily at his sensei and grinned. "Gomen, gomen, Iruka-sensei."

"We were just discussing about the Kawarimi no Jutsu," Iruka said. "If you managed to even catch a snippet of what we were talking about, you _might_ be able to perform it correctly."

Naruto scratched his cheek. "I don't understand you, Sensei."

"Just do a Kawarimi, Baka!" Iruka growled.

"Hai, hai," Naruto placed his hands on the pockets of his vest. Since he had changed his clothing, movement was easier, plus, he didn't look as much of an idiot as he usually did.

He walked to the front, his fingers moving into familiar seals. He stopped, turned towards them and shouted, "Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

Sasuke appeared in front of them with a dazed expression on his face. "How?"

"Gomen, Sasuke," Naruto grinned and walked towards the front from his position in the back. "You were the closest one around."

---

"Gai, it has come to my attention that you have been teaching Naruto for the past three years," Jiro said and leaned against a log, watching the other Jounin practice on a training dummy.

"Hai, it is true that I train the ever youthful Naruto-kun," the Jounin answered, never once wavering from his attack.

"If it is possible, can I take over the taijutsu training?" Jiro asked.

"Why is that, Jiro-kun? You do know that my taijutsu skill is the best in this village," Gai reasoned. "Besides, the Uzumaki clan does not specialize in taijutsu fighting. Unless you plan to teach him yours?"

"Yes, I do," Jiro said. "That's why I asked you to buy him that weapon."

Gai stopped his assault and nodded. "I see."

Jiro tossed a towel to Gai. "Will you let me?"

"Yes," Gai said and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. "On the condition that you do not remove the weights that he is wearing right now. Also, do not try to add more. Considering the weight of the weapons your clan always uses, I don't think Naruto will need the double burden."

Jiro smiled. "I agree, and thank you for letting me."

---

Sasuke blinked. _What just happened?_

Naruto walked to the front and slapped Sasuke on the back before grinning. "Gomen, Sasuke. You were the closest one around."

_Did Naruto just—?_

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun, for showing us the correct way of doing a Kawarimi," Iruka said and laughed uncomfortably.

_No. It can't be._

"I have such an excellent teacher," Naruto said and puffed his chest in pride.

"You were asleep the whole time," Sakura pointed out.

"I have…very good listening skills," Naruto said and wiggled his ears to prove his point.

Sasuke frowned. _He was probably lucky. _

He watched Naruto walk back to his seat. The boy was making Nice Guy poses. He didn't even see the tripwire he set up and promptly fell.

"Neh, Naruto, you alright?" Kiba asked and looked at the fallen blondie. The boy lifted a hand wearily and did a thumbs-up.

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. _Yeah, lucky._

---

"Show me what you've learned, Naruto," Jiro said and smiled at his student. The boy made a face and nodded.

He ran towards the water, not bothering to position his fingers into a tiger seal. Once he reached the water, he stood there for a moment before running towards the tree and walking on it without the use of his hands. He jumped down, creating seals he knew too well. When he landed, a log appeared in his place.

For a moment there was only silence. Jiro was about to call Naruto, when a mirror-image of Jiro appeared from the water. "**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A large fireball appeared from his mouth, burning the log to ashes.**

**Jiro grinned and clapped as he watched his mirror-image turn back into Naruto. He walked towards the blonde and ruffled his hair. "You're getting good, Naruto, but you forgot to do one more jutsu."**

**"One more?" Naruto asked, trying to sound innocent.**

**"The bunshin, Naruto," Jiro said. **

**The ninja-in-training sighed. "Fine." He placed his fingers in a tiger seal and concentrated, ignoring the sweat trickling down his face. "Bunshin no Jutsu!"**

**A bad copy of Naruto lay on the ground. Jiro laughed. **

**"It isn't funny," Naruto said and pouted.**

**Wiping a tear off his face, Jiro looked at Naruto seriously. "You really can't do it?"**

**Naruto nodded. "I can do the other techniques fine, but the bunshin?" He shrugged. "It just doesn't come easy to me."**

**"There's probably a good explanation for that," Jiro said. "I'll ask Haru to see if there's anything wrong with you."**

"Is Haru a doctor?" Naruto asked and frowned.

"No, but he can use Byakugan to see your chakra coils," Jiro explained. "Perhaps something is wrong there. If not, well, everyone has their weak points right?"

---

Shikamaru stared at the sky through half-opened lids. The sky looked nice today.

"Teme! Why are you always hitting me first?" Naruto's voice rang in the air.

"That's because you have such a weak defense," Kiba answered back, his voice equally loud.

"You're both so…noisy," Shino muttered. No one heard him except Shikamaru.

"It's just a game, guys," Chouji said and received two death glares from his friends.

"Just a game? _Just_ a game?" Naruto asked. "It's not, okay? It's not!" Shikamaru could almost hear his friend pout. "At least you're not like Sasuke-teme." The blonde ninja-in-training grumbled sullenly.

"Yeah, I hate that guy. He always predicts our moves, damn him. Who asked him to join us anyway?" Kiba asked.

Shikamaru turned to look at his friends and saw Naruto raise his hand.

"Sorry about that. Just wanted to prove that I'm better than him at something." Naruto said and made a face.

"Well, he proved you wrong, dumbass!"

"Teme! Don't call me that!"

Shikamaru sighed. Perhaps it was time to learn that Kagemane jutsu his father kept telling him about.

---

"Neh, Jiro-san, where's Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked and scratched his cheek.

"Gai will no longer be coming over. I'm taking over your training, Naruto, so I think its Jiro-sensei for now," Jiro said and smiled at his student.

"What are you gonna teach me about?" Naruto asked and tilted his head. He had his thinking face on.

"I'm going to teach you how to wield those two daggers Gai had bought you for your birthday," Jiro said and smiled.

---

Weeks had turned to months as Naruto's training had progressed. In that time, Jiro had made Naruto do two more exercises that would make his control over chakra better. One was called the Rock Smashing Exercise. Naruto was forced to crush small stones with a stone that he had in his hand. Normally, with his strength alone he could destroy about fifty of these stones. Jiro's exercise demanded something far more than just that though.

For one thing, he had to break about a thousand of them which Naruto deemed impossible. For another thing, he had to do it without breaking the stone he was holding which he felt was even more impossible.

These two things became his major problem. Turning to Jiro for some clues, the man only gave him one word: chakra.

Even with that knowledge, it was still hard for him to control his chakra and guide it towards the stone which he was holding.

Eventually, he had managed to do it. It had taken him six weeks.

Of course, in those six weeks, he had also mastered the basics of using his daggers and a jutsu that helped enhance the blade's length.

The other exercise was called Paper Walking Exercise. It was a little bit like the Water Walking Exercise, except, in this case, Naruto had to walk through a paper-thin material stretched on top of two clay jars without breaking it. With the experience he had from the Rock Smashing Exercise, it had only taken him a week to do it.

---

Jiro dropped a large, slightly battered scroll on the ground. He patted the scroll and grinned. "Today, we'll be studying this," he said and pushed the scroll, letting it fall on the ground.

Naruto cracked an eyelid and grinned back. He jumped from his lotus position and promptly fell as the paper underneath him gave way. He winced. "This is the fifth one today that I lost my concentration."

"At least you're getting better at it," Jiro said. He sat besides the scroll and let Naruto examine it.

"Neh, neh, I thought you were going to teach me a new jutsu! This isn't a new jutsu! It's the kind of boring crap that Iruka-sensei usually teaches us," Naruto whined and pouted.

Jiro sighed and scratched his head. "I think it's time I give you a history lesson."

"Do you have to?" Naruto asked and made a face. "Well this sucks."

"It's about your clan, Naruto," Jiro said. "So you better listen up."

Naruto perked up and smiled. "Really? Really? Cool!"

"The Uzumaki clan is a special clan that specializes on jutsu creation." Jiro explained. "They were known throughout the village as geniuses in both ninjutsu and genjutsu. They could practically learn any jutsu—except of course those under the advance bloodline limit—and could even modify them to satisfy their needs."

"Really? Cool! Jutsu Creation Specialist: Uzumaki Naruto. I like the sound of that," Naruto said and beamed. His face fell as he remembered something. "If the Uzumakis can learn any jutsu, why can't I learn the Bunshin?"

Jiro smacked his head and made a face. "Gomen, gomen, Naruto. I forgot to ask Haru to take a look at you. Maybe later," his face turned serious as he stared at Naruto. "For now, I must tell you a bit about your family history. It's not about how it started—for that you have a scroll waiting for you back at the apartment—but the downfall of your clan so you better listen up."

"Why?" Naruto asked, confused. "Why is that, Sensei? Isn't the downfall of a clan a bit depressing? Why not how it started? You confuse me, Sensei."

"I'm going to talk about the downfall because my clan is involved as well," Jiro said and looked at Naruto straight in the eye. "It's time I tell you how your parents died and how it became my fault."

Naruto's eyebrows deepened in a frown. "If you say so, Sensei."

"Ten years ago, a great demon appeared in this land," Jiro said mournfully. "It was known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune. He killed many people. But did you know how he appeared?"

Naruto shook his head and looked at Jiro with wide curious eyes. "How?"

Jiro took a deep breath and let it out. He looked at Naruto with sad eyes and sighed. "You have to find out about our clan first."

"Just tell me already," Naruto said impatiently.

"The Kyozuka clan's specialty is in summoning. But it's not as simple as a frog or a snake. We can summon beasts that are called Aeons. They are also called Espers, Eidolons or Guardian Forces, but I guess they felt that the name was already appropriate and decided not to change it."

"Aeons?" Naruto asked and scratched his head.

Jiro nodded and stood. He did seals, some that even Naruto did not recognize. He bit his lip and stretched his hand in the air. "Kyozuka Special Summoning Technique! Come forth Valefor of the wind."

A great gush of wind came as a large winged creature appeared. It was probably twelve meters long with silky feathers and strange markings on its back. The shape of its wings looked like a crossbreed of a bat's and a butterfly's. On its head was a metallic helmet that covered most of its face. Below it was a beak, half a meter long.

_Jiro-sama, it has been a long time since you have summoned me. _The great beast spoke.

Jiro smiled. "Valefor." He turned towards Naruto. "Valefor is but one of the many summons that you can possess. That is, if you let me adopt you," he murmured the last words softly.

Naruto bit his lip and looked down. He was still unsure if he wanted Jiro to adopt him. The offer was tempting but…but Naruto felt that he didn't deserve Jiro as a father.

_Do you need me for something, Jiro-sama?_ The Aeon enquired.

Jiro shook his head. "You may go, Valefor."

Valefor bowed and disappeared.

Jiro sat down and looked at Naruto. "My father wanted to become stronger. He wanted our clan to rise in rank," he looked down and fiddled with a twig. "So one day, he, with his stupid idiotic plans, decided to call forth the Kyuubi and fuse it with one of his Aeons."

"But it backfired, right?" Naruto asked.

"Hai. He was almost finished in sealing it when the Kyuubi broke free and killed him. It was angered that a mortal was able to summon it from its kingdom and decided to kill everyone in the village."

"What happened?"

"Ichiro, my older brother, offered his services to the Yondaime. He gave the former Hokage some of our family's scrolls, saying that the Yondaime might be able to figure out a way to stop the demon. After that, he rallied the whole clan, leaving only my grandmother and me to hide far from the village," Jiro wiped away a stray tear and continued. "Our clan faced that demon for five days and five nights. By the fifth night, only Ichiro remained but he was severely wounded."

"Really? Did he die?" Naruto asked softly.

Jiro ignored the question and continued on. "Now, in those five days, the Yondaime, sought the help of his twin, Kazama Kaien. Kaien was not good at creating jutsus," Jiro looked up and met Naruto's eyes. "But his wife, Uzumaki Amari, was. Your mother—"

"My mom?" Naruto asked and looked at Jiro with wide eyes. "And Kaien's my dad?"

Jiro nodded. "Your mother poured over the scrolls and was able to create a jutsu that can stop the Kyuubi. However, before she could finish testing the jutsu, she had to go through operation."

"Why?" Naruto cut in.

"Because she had problems with giving birth to you. On ordinary circumstances, your mom would have been able to survive the operation. But, with the medic-nins stretched thinly trying to heal everyone who was injured, your mom died giving birth to you."

Naruto looked down. "Mom," he whispered quietly. He looked up at Jiro and said, "What happened?"

"With the combined power of your father and your uncle, the Yondaime, they were able to seal the Kyuubi.," Jiro said. "This is supposed to be a secret but—" he looked at Naruto and smiled. "—I know you're ready for this."

"Ready for what?" Naruto frowned and scratched his cheek.

"The truth," Jiro murmured. "The Kyuubi was sealed inside of you."

"Really? So that's why the villagers hate me." Naruto said and sighed. He looked at Jiro. "You don't hate me, do you?"

"Of course not, Naruto. How can I hate you when it was my own damn father's fault for summoning the Kyuubi?" Jiro said. Sadly, he murmured. "You should be the one hating me."

"How could I hate you when you've helped me so much, Jiro?" Naruto grinned weakly. "Plus, you have the coolest hair. I can't hate you for that." He looked at the orange-haired Jounin seriously and asked. "Now what happened to Ichiro? I really want to know."

"Besides needing the power and vessel to stop the Kyuubi, the Yondaime also needed to have an Aeon whose power involved sealing. Since no such Aeon existed, Ichiro talked to the Elders and asked that he be made into one." Jiro explained. "He gave up his life to become an Aeon. He became the Shinigami." Jiro smiled wryly. "As for the rest of the story? You probably know what happens next."

Naruto nodded, his thinking face on. He looked at Jiro. "Ok, so the Kyuubi's sealed. That doesn't explain my clan's downfall though."

Jiro sighed, tired of explaining. "Your clan was not only known for being experts at jutsu creation. They were also known for being the smallest clan ever, because most of the adults there are barren."

"Barren?"

"They can't bear children." Jiro answered. "They say it's because one of their ancestors cursed the whole clan. Now, only the clan head or heir may be able to have children."

"Oh," Naruto said and tilted his head. "I didn't know clans were so complicated."

"I know," Jiro said and smiled. "Of course, it will become even _more_ complicated once you become clan head and all."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, you know, things like marriage and having babies and stuff," Jiro said offhandedly.

Naruto made a face. "But why aren't _you_ married?"

Jiro chuckled. "I'm still young." _Plus, if you let me adopt you, I won't have to._ Jiro thought but did not say aloud.

"Then I'm glad that I'm younger than you."

Jiro smiled wryly and shrugged, "Whatever you say, Naruto." He looked at the blonde seriously and gestured at the scroll. "The scroll I brought you has all the information about the basic hand seals: how to do them and how to use them for creating and modifying jutsus. I expect you to finish memorizing all of them by Monday." Jiro ordered. In a lighter tone he said, "I'll treat you to ramen later."

Naruto was about to groan when he perked up and grinned at the thought of eating his favorite food. "Cool!"

* * *

A/N: The game they were playing was actually based on a game my classmates played. It's called Magic and all you have to do is clap each other's others hands and do a certain symbol. Each symbol has a set of points. The strongest offensive symbol wins. To acquire the points, you have to do another symbol. 

Also, I need an idea for pairings. Jiro, because I need it for the plot (can be an OC) and Naruto. The only pairing I resent is NarutoSakura; I'm cool with anyone else.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Naruto inhaled the contents of his sixth bowl and placed it aside. He patted his stomach and grinned at Ayame. "One more please."

"Thought I might find you here," Jiro said and smiled, leaning against the inside wall of Ichiraku.

Naruto turned to smile back at Jiro and did a salute. "Yo, Jiro-sensei. You gonna buy me some ramen or what?"

"Well, let me think," Jiro looked at the ceiling with feigned thoughtfulness. "Nope."

Naruto pouted. Suddenly, he looked alarmed as he stared at Jiro with wide eyes. "Are you going to ask me questions about the different hand seals again?"

"Nah, I just came here for a bite," Jiro said nonchalantly. He sat down and smiled at old man, Teuchi. "Pork ramen, please."

"Hai, hai," Teuchi said and smiled at his two favorite costumers. "And miso for you, Naruto?"

The blondie nodded in between gulps.

They ate for a while, enjoying each other's company. By Naruto's sixteenth bowl, and Jiro's seventh, the sun was already setting.

Jiro turned towards Naruto. "Hey, mind if I walk you home, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up from his last bowl and smiled. "I don't mind."

Jiro nodded and stood up, Naruto following suit. Jiro placed a handful of notes on the table and waved at Teuchi and his daughter good bye. Once they were outside, they both headed for the northern part of the village.

"Neh, Naruto," Jiro murmured, breaking the silence.

"What is it, Jiro-sensei?" Naruto looked up, his eyebrows knitted in a frown.

Jiro hesitated and looked ahead, flashing a smile at one of the shopkeepers they passed by. "Are you ok living alone? I mean, the Uzumaki estate is a very large place; I myself still have trouble looking for the exit once I'm inside."

"I'm ok with it," Naruto said and smiled lopsidedly. "I still have trouble finding the bathroom sometimes. It might not be so hard if _someone_ was to live with me." He looked pointedly at Jiro's direction.

Jiro sighed. "You know I can't live with you. I have the Kyozuka estates to worry about as well." He took a glance at Naruto before looking back at the cobblestone floor. "You know, I'm still willing to adopt you."

Naruto stopped at Jiro's words and looked down. "I-I don't think I deserve it."

"What do you mean?" Jiro demanded. "Haven't I told you about the incident twelve years ago? I _owe_ you, Naruto. You saved this village, taking that-that thing in. If it were not for my father's folly—"

"My parents would still be alive. The Fourth wouldn't have died. The villagers won't hate me." Naruto looked at Jiro's eyes. "And I wouldn't have met you."

"Naruto—"

"You're a nice guy, you know," Naruto blurted and scuffed his foot on the cobblestone. "If I were in your shoes—"

"You would still have helped, Naruto," Jiro said and smiled weakly. "I know you."

Naruto rolled his eyes and grinned sheepishly. "Ok. What about: if someone else was in your shoes they'd have run away from the problem and blamed it on others."

"I know that too," Jiro whispered softly. "But, Naruto, you have to understand. I have been your teacher for two years now. And at first, I have to admit I was a bit uncertain. I was a stranger to you and you to me. But watching you struggle each day, I wanted to help, Naruto."

Naruto snorted. "Never figured you for one of those dramatic ones, Sensei," Naruto teased.

"Yeah well, I had to say something didn't I?" Jiro smiled. He touched Naruto's shoulder. "I _am_ serious you know."

"I know," Naruto replied. "And I accept."

"Really now?" Jiro asked and raised an eyebrow. He grinned at Naruto. "Well, those hours of talking to the mirror finally paid off!"

* * *

Feet which were not human walked through a white hall with light blue scrawls and designs littered around the place. On all fours, the beast looked majestic. The soft jingle of the two earrings on its left ear filled the hall with a rhythmic pattern. 

The beast stood up in the middle of the room. Together, beasts and humans surrounding the room stood up for a moment. The beast nodded and all sat down.

"The clan head has spoken," Ifrit boomed. "He wishes to adopt the _gaki_."

"The Kyuubi vessel?" A man with long spiky hair, wearing a SOLDIER uniform, spoke.

Ifrit nodded solemnly.

"Isn't that the demon that was supposed to be infused with—?"

"Hush now, Zidane," a woman in an orange jumpsuit swatted her husband softly. "You know he still doesn't want to talk about it."

The blonde lashed his tail angrily and pouted. "I was just _asking_, Dagger."

"Asking will get you nowhere," a woman wearing a black dress with a tight bodice and a moogle on her shoulder glared at Zidane. "Or haven't you figured that out yet?"

"I say we let him have the kid," another blonde man with a blitzball uniform said.

"But he is not of our blood, Tidus," a beast with blue fur and white hair interjected. "Shouldn't the man just find a wife?"

"I like the kid," Tidus said and grinned. "He reminds me of me."

"Besides, Jiro feels that he owes the boy," Zidane added. "So let's just get him to adopt the kid already."

"You just want him to be part of the family because Cloud here didn't want to join the Blondie group," the moogle-carrying woman smirked. Cloud rolled his eyes.

"When will he do the adoption ritual?"

"Tonight, Yuna-sama," Ifrit answered and looked at his former summoner.

"We are equal beings here, Ifrit," Yuna said and smiled. "No need to call me that."

"Perhaps we could interfere with the adoption ritual," Cloud suggested.

"We're going to sabotage it?" Tidus asked. "But isn't that evil?"

"What he means is: we can talk to the boy halfway through the adoption ritual," a man wearing a leather jacket and annoyed expression on his face answered.

"That way, we can decide whether or not he is fit to become a Kyozuka," Shiva said and nodded in understanding. "If he is as good as our dear clan head says he is then he will become a Kyozuka in name and in blood."

"And if not, he will only have the name of Kyozuka. Not the bloodline," Bahamut smiled, sharp teeth showing, "Very well." The King of Dragons looked at everyone around the room, "All those in favor of this idea, raise their hands."

Almost everyone raised a hand. After a moment's nudging, Tidus and Zidane also raised a hand.

"I believe that the matter is decided. Ifrit?" Bahamut looked questioningly at the Aeon.

The red-haired beast gave Bahamut a grateful smile, "Thank you." He nodded to the rest. "Meeting adjourned."

* * *

Naruto sat in the middle of a circle of runes. He had his vest off and the left sleeve of his black shirt was rolled back to reveal a mark of a dragon wrapped around a staff; the ink which was used for it was still wet. 

"You ready?" Jiro asked his student quietly. Naruto looked up from his place and nodded. Jiro formed seals on his hands. "Uzumaki Technique: Bloodline Fusion!" He tapped Naruto's head with his index finger and his ring finger twice.

The runes crawled towards blonde ninja-in-training, all of them heading for the mark on Naruto's arm. When the last of the runes had gone, there came a blinding flash.

_"Neh, Jiro-san," Naruto looked up at the orange-haired Jounin. "Where are we?"_

_They stood in a large empty hall. The whole room was painted in white; Naruto could not even distinguish the size of the room because it looked like there were no boundary lines._

_"I don't know—"_

"That is because you have never been to this part of the Palace," _Ifrit spoke as he walked towards them. _"You have only been to the Council Room."

_Jiro snapped out of his reverie and bowed to the beast, "Ifrit."_

"Jiro! How's our favorite summoner?" _Zidane asked and grabbed Jiro in the head, ruffling the man's hair._

_"I'm fine," Jiro said with a slight smile on his face. He frowned. "But why did you bring us here? If you disapproved of the adoption—"_

"It's not like that, old pal," _Tidus said and grinned._ "We just wanted to meet the boy ourselves."

_"You could have done that after the adoption ritual," Jiro said, an annoyed expression on his face. "We don't want to overload my son with everything at once."_

"You call the gaki your son already," _Griever cut in. _"Don't you think it is a little too early?"

_"I've looked upon him as my own for quite sometime now," Jiro answered back; his tone rising. _

"Now, now," _Yuna said and smiled. _"We didn't do all this just so you two can bicker."

_Naruto watched them with his confused face on. "Neh, neh, Nee-chan."_

_Yuna looked at Naruto and tilted her head. _"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

_"What's going on?" Naruto asked and scratched his cheek. _

"They wish to find out if you are worth it, gaki." _Everyone turned around to see a barrier forming at the eastern part of the room. Two large eyes peered from the enormous cage. _"They want to find out if you deserve the Kyozuka bloodline."

"The Kyuubi," _Ifrit growled. Bahamut touched Ifrit's shoulder. _

"No fighting," _the King of Dragons murmured and shook its head._

"No fighting,"_ the two blondies chorused._

_The Kyuubi snorted and settled on its haunches. _"Even if I wanted to, I cannot fight you, dobe."

"Why you—"

_"Stop that!" Naruto shouted and glared at Ifrit for a moment before walking towards the nine-tailed demon fox. "I don't know who you are but people—or demons—who call others dobe are the worst type of people!" _

_The Kyuubi let out a menacing laugh, _"That's because the Uchiha kid calls you dobe, dobe."

_Naruto pouted and sat in front of the Kyuubi's cage. "Yeah well, Sasuke-teme's going to get his butt kicked someday. Believe it!" He pulled out his tongue._

_Tidus chuckled. _"The kid's got spunk. I like that." _He looked at the blondie standing besides him._ "What do you think, Zidane?"

_Zidane grinned. _"Only a true man has guts, my fellow blondie. I approve."

"We ain't asking for your opinion," _the Kyuubi growled. A large red claw shot out of the cage. _

_Naruto appeared in front of the claw; his dagger embedded on it. He was dragged back by the strength of the Kyuubi's power. "I don't know who these people are, but they seem like good people so ya better not hurt them, ya hear?"_

"Loud and clear, gaki," _the demon grumbled. It pulled back its claw; the wound was already healing. _"Just so you know; I went easy on you."

_Naruto made a face and fell to the floor, gasping for air. He was exhausted from all the chakra he had to use to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground. _

"I'm beginning to like him myself," _Cloud said. _

"I know," _Squall smiled wryly. _

_Jiro looked at his student-turned-son with concern. "Naruto, are you alright?" _

_The blondie lifted a hand wearily and did a thumbs-up. "'Course I am."_

_Jiro smiled to himself and walked towards the boy. The Elders—the different Aeons and people—parted to let him through. "Good."_

_"Neh, Jiro-san?" Naruto said and smiled as he watched his surrogate father kneel besides him. _

_"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Jiro asked, tousling the boy's unruly yellow hair._

_"Did I pass?" Naruto murmured._

_Jiro glanced at the Elders who watched the boy quietly, each making their own decision. "I really don't know, Naruto."_

* * *

Naruto woke up and blinked as he turned away from a shaft of sunlight which had escaped from the curtains. He frowned and moved to a sitting position. Even though he was still unfamiliar with living at the Uzumaki estates—a gift that Jiro had given him on his twelfth birthday—he knew that he was not sleeping there. 

He already had a general idea of the different color combinations that each room in the estates had. The dark green and red combination of this one was not one of them. He surveyed the room with caution and noted that he was sleeping in a futon. The room itself was bare of any posters or other such personal belongings that made Naruto think that there was no one occupying this room; a guest room to be exact.

The events of last night came back to him in torrents. He rolled back his left sleeve and, sure enough, the Kyozuka's mark was not there. He frowned. Did that mean that he was not accepted? He stood up and grabbed the vest neatly folded on top of a chair. Something caught his eye.

He turned around and was stunned. In front of him was a full-body mirror. He touched his hair. It was still blonde, much to his relief, but his spiky hair had somehow turned even messier than normal. Not only that, but the spikes themselves were not uniform and branched out from his head like a bird's nest.

He turned back to examining his face and saw that his facial features were a bit sharper. His eyes were also a bit bluer than normal.

Furthermore, he had grown two inches which put him in the same height as one Uchiha Sasuke. He lifted his shirt and saw that his body structure was still the same.

"Good morning, Naruto," Jiro said and smiled from the doorway. "Did you like the changes?"

Naruto scratched his head and grinned. "I'm not really sure yet, but hey! At least no one will call me chibi anymore." He pouted. "I'm just a bit disappointed coz I didn't get your cool hair."

Jiro chuckled and beckoned for Naruto to follow him. "Your hair's actually cooler than mine. I think you got some of Cloud's genes."

"Cloud?" Naruto asked.

"One of the Elders," Jiro explained.

"So I passed their inspection then?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Barely," Jiro said and sighed. "The conservatives didn't like the fact that you faced the Kyuubi head on, even if it was just the claw. The others though, liked you for that. Courage is one of the traits that all Kyozuka must possess. It's what kept _them_ going when they were still alive: the courage to face others that are tougher than they are for the sake of those precious to them."

Naruto looked at Jiro. "If I pass, does that mean you're my father now?"

"Yes, Naruto," Jiro murmured and smiled.

"Can I call you Outo-san then?"

"Of course," Jiro answered back. "Now eat; I'm going to show you how to summon and doing so with an empty stomach is not advisable."

Naruto nodded and sat in front of Jiro. "Do you have instant ramen?" He asked and looked around.

"Sorry," Jiro said as he placed a bowl of porridge in front of Naruto. "This is all I have right now."

Naruto pouted and ate his porridge with a sullen expression on his face. Nevertheless, he finished every bit of the porridge. "I'm finished, Outo-san!"

Jiro gulped down the last of his porridge, wiped his face and nodded. "Very well, let's go outside."

Jiro stood up and walked towards the training grounds which were near the kitchen. Naruto followed him. "Neh, Outo-san?"

"What is it, Naruto?" Jiro asked and looked back.

"Why did the Kyozuka mark on my arm disappear?" Naruto asked.

"That's how it works, I guess," Jiro said and shrugged. "I got the adoption jutsu from one of the Uzumaki scrolls at your place so, even though I've studied about it, I still don't know the jutsu that well."

"Oh," Naruto said and nodded. "Ok."

Jiro sat on the grassy ground patted besides him. "Sit here for a while."

Naruto nodded and did as he was told. "So are we gonna summon or what?"

"In a little moment, Naruto," Jiro said calmly. "For now, I will explain the basics of summoning. Remember when I summoned Valefor?" Naruto nodded. "Well the thing is there are two types of summons."

"What are they?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"The first one is called Active summoning. Active summoning means you have to perform the jutsu to call a certain Aeon. If you are powerful enough, you can even summon more than one Aeon," Jiro explained. "Now, the other one is called—"

"Lemme guess," Naruto said, "Inactive summoning?"

Jiro chuckled. "Yes, it's called Inactive summoning. It is quite similar to Active summoning except in Inactive summoning you can summon an Aeon without seals."

"How does that work?" Naruto asked.

"First, you have to be junctioned to one. You can't just do that to an Aeon, especially if it has just recently agreed to be a summon of yours. To be junctioned to one, you must have the Aeon's complete trust." Jiro said seriously. "After you have gained an Aeon's trust and has junctioned to it, you can talk to the Aeon using Mind Link; basically, you can communicate to the Aeon via your mind.

You can also learn new techniques from the Aeon and its personality might affect yours as well. Be warned though that junctioning for too long will eventually lead to memory loss so it's a good idea to keep a journal nearby if you want to junction to an Aeon."

"You said that you can summon an Aeon without seals using Inactive summoning. How do you do that?" Naruto asked.

Jiro looked thoughtful. "Well, it's like this. In Active summoning, you have to create seals first to send a message to the Aeon that you need its help. But, in Inactive, you can just ask your Aeon through Mind Link to come out. The downside is: you are only allowed to summon one Aeon using Inactive summoning because you can only have one Aeon junctioned to you at a time."

"Oh," Naruto looked at Jiro and blinked. He then grinned. "How do I junction to one?"

Jiro smiled. "Remember when we were at the Palace?"

"You mean the Elders' place?" Naruto asked. "Yeah, I remember that."

"Well, sometimes, you can dream yourself into going there. If you want to do it consciously though, you can go there using meditation."

"But what does that have to do with junctioning?"

"Once you are there, you can converse to any of the Aeons and can ask the Aeon you want if it can junction with you. Be sure that you are in good terms with the Aeon first or else it will adamantly refuse your plea."

"How does meditation work?"

Jiro sighed. "You close your eyes and make sure that your mind is free from any thought. Then, imagine yourself into the Palace and you'll get there."

"You sound like it's easy," Naruto grumbled and pouted.

"Well, with some practice, it will become easier," Jiro said. He stood up. "Now, I'll be showing you the hand seals to call forth your Aeon." He showed each one to Naruto and made the boy copy it. When Naruto had memorized the hand seals, Jiro spoke. "Right now, you can only summon one Aeon—"

"Why is that, Outo-san?" Naruto asked.

Jiro sighed again. "That is because an Aeon must approve of you first before it will allow you to call it. If you try calling out an Aeon that has not acknowledged you as its master, then it will either refuse to come out or it will and then it'll make you fight it."

"So it's like Junctioning?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Jiro said and nodded.

"Which Aeon can I call out?" Naruto asked.

"Ifrit decided to be your first Aeon," Jiro said.

"Why?"

"Because it feels that it owes you, the same way I do," Jiro said, his head pounding from all the explanations he had to do. "It was the one that was supposed to be infused to the Kyuubi." Jiro glared at his son. "Now, no more questions; you are giving me a headache."

"Hai, Outo-san," Naruto said and pouted.

"Do the hand seals and concentrate on Ifrit's image. You don't have to worry about the words; it will come naturally to you."

Naruto nodded and did the seals slowly. He thrust his hand forward and shouted, "Kyozuka Special Summoning Technique! Come forth, Ifrit, from the fires of the Underworld."

He felt a large amount of chakra being ripped from him and took large deep breaths as he tried to keep himself from falling; before him, the ground underneath burst open, dirt flying everywhere.

A hand shot out from the hole and clamped on top of the earthy ground. Ifrit appeared in all its majestic glory and roared.

_I take it that this is your first time summoning?_ Ifrit asked the young blonde as it jumped nimbly near him.

"Yeah," Naruto said and grinned. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

_I am surprised. I expected him to call me when he is at least fourteen. _Ifrit said; its eyes turned to stare at Jiro. _I am even more surprised by the amount of chakra he had given me. Because of this, I can sustain my form for about five minutes even if he is asleep or unconscious. _

"He is one powerful kid," Jiro said and smiled.

_Will he be keeping his name or will he be Kyozuka Naruto now? _Ifrit asked.

"I think it will be best that he keeps his own name," Jiro said and smiled weakly. "I don't want to be responsible for his clan's extinction."

_With him as an Uzumaki, you still have no heir to take over the clan._

"What if I fuse our clans together?" Jiro asked hopefully. "That way—"

Ifrit frowned. _There are large gaping holes in your plan. I suggest you either adopt another kid who will take over the clan while at the same time being closely related to Naruto or get yourself a wife and a kid._

"But won't it be unfair?" Jiro asked. "Naruto will have both the Kyozuka and Uzumaki techniques while—"

_Then teach the other kid the Uzumaki secrets. _Ifrit bristled, its voice, in Jiro's mind, was rising. _Naruto will have your techniques but his own will be dominant and the heir you choose will learn the Uzumaki's secrets but it will be your own techniques which will be dominant._

"So that there will be a permanent alliance between the two clans," Jiro said and nodded in understanding. "You are a genius, Ifrit."

_Of course I am. _Ifrit murmured in the Jounin's mind. _Now take that boy inside before he catches a cold or something._

* * *

A/n: The pairings for Naruto are still open. Jiro, on the other hand, I've already decided to make an OC. I hope this chapter has explained a lot... And the next update will probably about two weeks from now because our final exams are coming up and I'm not allowed near the computer... 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"And for your last test, I need you to make at least three believable Bunshins," Iruka said and smiled at the blonde boy.

Naruto, on the other hand, wasn't feeling as happy. He knew he could never do a Bunshin right; Haru himself who had the Byakugan said that it was impossible unless he had perfect chakra control. The chakra amount required to create a Bunshin was so small in quantity that an ordinary citizen can do it, given the knowledge. Naruto though, had such a huge amount of chakra in himself. This meant that whenever he would try and create one, the Bunshin would either explode in a puff of smoke or turn into a Siamese-like Naruto which may have two heads or more than one pair of arms.

He couldn't even do that other jutsu they tried to teach him; the Fire Flicker Technique also required a small amount because its purpose was to create a tiny flame in an open palm for creating small fires when one is doing missions which might require the need of stealth. He _can _do the jutsu but the flame itself was no flicker.

"Naruto," Iruka called his student impatiently. "I said I need you to perform a Bunshin."

"Hai," Naruto said and felt droplets of sweat form on his face. He placed his fingers on a ram position and shouted, "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto closed his eyes and prayed to any kami listening that his technique would work. Unfortunately, no one responded to his plea.

"What kind of Bunshin is that, Naruto?" Iruka berated his young student. "I know you always fall asleep in class but to do something so incompetent." Iruka shook his head and looked at his clipboard with a sigh. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to fail you, Naruto."

"But Iruka-sensei, he did create three bunshins," Mizuki reasoned.

"You mean one bunshin with three heads," Iruka said and looked wryly at his fellow teacher. He looked at Naruto. "I'm really sorry."

---

Naruto looked at the ground dejectedly. He was a bit glad that his father, Jiro, was out on a mission right now; he doubted that he could take the disappointment from Jiro yet.

"You know, there's another way to pass that test," a voice broke the boy's musings. Naruto looked up to see Mizuki's face. "But first, you have to trust me."

---

"Congratulations, Naruto," Iruka said and smiled at the newly made ninja before him, "Although you didn't have to do so much damage."

Naruto looked up at Iruka and smiled uneasily. "Thank you, Sensei."

Three medic nins were examining Mizuki's battered body; the ninja teacher was barely breathing. One of them stood up and walked towards them. "Three broken ribs, a shattered kneecap, a punctured lung and a broken nose," The medic nin said and smiled. "That boy really did a number on him."

"You think?" Naruto asked and grinned proudly, fiddling with his new forehead protector. "I have such good teachers."

Iruka chuckled and winced. The medic nin looked at the Chuunin with concern. "Why don't you lie down and let me have a look at your wounds."

"Hai, Okaa-chan," Iruka said and smiled mockingly at the medic nin.

The man rolled his eyes and muttered, "Ninjas today…so troublesome."

---

"Are you sure about this?" The cameraman, a bald guy with a protruding belly, raised an eyebrow wryly.

Naruto stood in front of him. The blonde was wearing his dark blue jacket tied on his waist. His hair was even wilder than ever while the whisker scars that marred his cheeks had fake blood dripping on them. On his nose was a small band-aid. "Of course! Believe it!" Naruto shouted and made a pose, his grin feral. He glared at the man impatiently. "Now take a picture of me; this pose is kinda awkward."

---

The Hokage puffed his tobacco pipe and frowned. "Retake it."

"What?!" Naruto stared at the Hokage. "But it took me three hours just to get that image right."

"You look like you were thrashed," the old man remarked calmly.

"That's the point!" Naruto shouted angrily. "I have to look dangerous so people would respect me, got it old man?"

"Retake it," the Hokage repeated blankly.

"Never!" Naruto growled. His hands flew in a flurry of seals. "Experimental Uzumaki Technique; Harem of Pleasures!"

"Naru—" the Hokage stopped in mid-lecture and looked at the wall; his eyes were unfocused. Drool dripped from his mouth in sync with the blood oozing from his nose.

"Fight me, Gramps!" A small voice squeaked from Naruto's right. The sound of a door opening was heard. The blonde turned to look at the source and stared at the small kid with brown spiky hair. The boy stopped and frowned. "Neh, Gramps? You alright?"

The Hokage didn't reply.

"Listen kid, the Third's a bit…occupied at the moment," Naruto said and sniggered. "Try going here later."

"Teme! You did this to my Gramps!" The kid growled. "I'll beat ya!" The kid ran towards Naruto. The blonde grabbed the kid's shirt and lifted the kid so that they were facing each other.

"Drop him; he's the Hokage's grandson," A man wearing a pair of round sunglasses stood imposingly by the door. Naruto didn't move a muscle.

"Ha! You afraid or something?" The kid smirked. "That's right; you can't beat the Hokage's—"

Naruto slammed his fist at the boy's head and dropped him. "So what?" The blonde growled. To the man wearing glasses he said, "The old man's in a genjutsu. I believe a kai would be enough to wake him."

Naruto turned away and jumped from a window. Ebisu stood there for a moment before releasing the jutsu on the Hokage. "Don't ever follow the likes of him, Konohamaru-sama. You should only follow me. I am, of course, the quickest—" He turned around to look at his young charge. His eyes widened as he looked around. "Konohamaru-sama?"

---

Naruto turned around and narrowed his eyes. He saw the badly-disguised kid and grimaced. "There's no need to hide from me; I know where you are." Naruto called out.

The kid dropped the cloth he was using and made a pose, "Just as I suspect from my rival!"

"I'm your rival?" Naruto asked Konohamaru skeptically. He turned around and leaned against two folded hands, "Don't think so."

"Wait!" Konohamaru shouted. "Please teach me, Boss!"

Naruto stopped in mid-step. His ears seemed to perk a little. "What did you call me?"

"I'll do anything, Boss!" Konohamaru begged. "Just teach me that technique you used against the old geezer."

Naruto grinned and scratched his cheek. "You called me Boss, huh?"

"Hai, Boss!" Konohamaru saluted smartly.

"Fine, I'll teach you." Naruto said. "But it's not the same as my Harem of Pleasures Technique; I don't think you're old enough to learn that."

"Then what will you teach me, Boss?" Konohamaru asked.

"One of my very first techniques," Naruto said and smirked. "Don't worry; it still has quite an effect on the old man."

---

"I've finally found you, Konohamaru-sama!" Ebisu said and beamed. Konohamaru turned around and looked surprised.

Konohamaru's face became determined as he formed a ram seal. "I'll beat you, four-eyes!" He closed his eyes and let the blue chakra surround him. "Sexy no Jutsu!"

Ebisu's eyes widened as he saw his young master turn into a beautiful brunette. A beautiful _naked_ brunette. "What an indecent technique! Come, young master, let us remove such a foul technique from that brain of yours." He tugged the scarf wrapped around Konohamaru's neck. "Don't follow him; follow me for I am the quickest path to becoming the Hokage."

"No! I don't want to be brainwashed," Konohamaru pleaded and fought against his teacher's powerful grip.

"Hey, Ero-sensei," Naruto called out calmly, his hands already forming different seals.

His face red, Ebisu turned and screamed, "I am not a perv—"

"Experimental Uzumaki Technique; Harem of Pleasures!" Naruto shouted. Ebisu fell; the blood dripped from his nose like a waterfall. He began to twitch and moan, seemingly enjoying himself.

Naruto smirked. "Level Two initiated."

---

The Third Hokage watched the crystal ball with fear. "I don't think I can escape that technique." He pulled down his hat and closed his eyes wearily. "Kami, I hope he doesn't teach Konohamaru that one. Think of the chaos that would bring."

---

"I couldn't defeat him. How will I become the Hokage if I can't defeat him?" Konohamaru grumbled.

"Hey, didn't I tell you?" Naruto asked and raised an eyebrow. "Becoming the Hokage and making the people acknowledge you; it's no easy task. Heck, I had to work hard just to be recognized and he was only one guy." Naruto looked away. "There are no shortcuts in becoming the Hokage. What your sensei told you was just bullshit."

Konohamaru blinked and looked at Naruto with awe.

_If you want to become the Hokage, you have to beat me first!_

Konohamaru frowned. "I'm sorry but I can't be your follower anymore, Naruto."

Naruto looked at Konohamaru questioningly.

Konohamaru grinned. "From now on; you and I are rivals. Maybe one day we can have a duel for the title of Hokage."

Naruto grinned back. "I will look forward to that day." In a more serious tone he said, "Before that day comes, train as hard as you can and never ever give up."

---

"What are you doing here, dobe?" Sasuke growled at Naruto. The boy glared at him and gestured at the forehead protector he wore on his arm. He pulled out his tongue and sat on one of the seats far from Sasuke.

"Good morning, class," Iruka greeted the students cheerfully. "As you all know—"

"Hey, Sensei," Sasuke shouted. "What's this dobe doing here? I thought he didn't pass."

"He helped capture a—" Iruka paused and looked at the ground darkly. "He helped stop a ninja from turning into a missing-nin. Said ninja is in prison right now."

Sakura frowned. "I don't believe you. How can the class dead last—" she glared pointedly at Naruto, "—stop a ninja who's probably twice as old as he is? I mean, I could understand if he was someone like—" she glanced at Sasuke, "—but Naruto?"

"Hey! I have you know—"

"Enough," Iruka cut in. He looked at Naruto and nodded. "Perhaps we can have a mock battle to stop all this questioning. Naruto?"

"'Course I'll do it, Sensei," Naruto said and grinned gleefully. "Who will fight me?"

"I will," Sasuke said and stood.

Iruka looked alarmed. "But—"

"Sure," Naruto said, his grin turning feral. "Why not?"

---

They stood inside one of the practice rooms at the academy. Naruto stood on one side while Sasuke on the other.

"Ready?" Iruka asked. The two nodded. "Hajime!"

Naruto placed his fingers in a cross-like position. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three Kage Bunshins appeared besides him. Naruto let the three clones walk forward, each doing a different jutsu.

The first clone ran towards Sasuke who stood in a fighting stance. Suddenly, a ball of flame appeared on the clone's palm. "Fire Flicker no Jutsu!"

Sasuke looked surprised. He quickly sidestepped to avoid the flame and did a roundhouse kick causing the clone to burst into a puff of smoke.

The second one ran towards Sasuke. The clone stopped when he was a meter away from the Uchiha and placed his hands on the floor. "Uzumaki Earth Technique: Thousand Roots!" For a moment nothing happened. Sasuke was about to let out a snide remark when roots broke free from the wooden boards and wrapped themselves against the Uchiha's feet, immobilizing the Genin.

Now, the third clone moved, his hand was palm down, facing the wooden boards. "Experimental Uzumaki Technique: Elemental Weapon Creation!" A large sword formed from the wooden boards, glowing from Naruto's chakra. When the sword was complete, the clone grabbed it and jumped into the air for the killing hit.

Sasuke tried to do a jutsu but the roots had also wrapped themselves on his hands. He closed his eyes. The clone tapped Sasuke's head with a sword and grinned, "I win."

All of the students stared at Naruto with wide eyes. The real Naruto walked towards the Uchiha. "Who's the dobe now, dobe?"

Sasuke opened his eyes and growled, "This isn't over yet. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He blew and a large fireball appeared, burning Naruto's two clones.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he jumped back. "You did a jutsu without seals? Very impressive, Sasuke, but this stops now." He moved his fingers into a hand seal and shouted. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Hundreds of Naruto clones appeared, forcing the students to back away.

Some of the clones jumped to the walls; their hands were a blur as they all did one technique. "Experimental Uzumaki Technique: Elemental Weapon Creation!" The air around their hands formed into long spears.

"_Now_ do you give up?" Naruto asked as three of his clones who stood near Sasuke pointed their spears at the boy. The other clones also had their spears positioned to throw at Sasuke.

"This is…overkill," Sasuke grumbled.

"Just making sure you can't move," Naruto said and leaned against his hands.

"Fine," Sasuke said and rolled his eyes. "I give up."

"Good," Naruto said and nodded to his clones. All of the clones disappeared except one. The clone caught Naruto as the boy almost fell, easing him into a standing position. "Thanks," Naruto murmured gratefully to the clone. The clone smiled wearily and disappeared.

Iruka found his voice and cleared his throat. "The winner of the mock battle is: Uzumaki Naruto."

---

The Genin shuffled back to their seats. Expressions of awe were on their faces.

"Now then, it's time I tell you which team you will be placed," Iruka said and looked at each one of them at the room. "Haruno-san, can you please read this list aloud. I'm just going to make a couple of adjustments."

"Hai, Sensei," the girl nodded, her face still shocked from the mock battle. "Team One…"

Naruto yawned and closed his eyes. Besides him, Shikamaru spoke, "You know, Naruto. What you did back there really _was_ overkill."

"I know," Naruto said and grinned. "But I ain't a genius like you Shikamaru; I don't know how to conserve my chakra."

"Do you play Shogi?" Shikamaru asked.

"A bit," Naruto admitted. "I'm not really that good."

After a long pause, Shikamaru finally spoke. "Perhaps we can play sometime."

"Ok, but don't expect me to be any good," Naruto said and gave Shikamaru a skeptical grin.

"Are you sure?" Shikamaru asked and raised an eyebrow. "Doing the unexpected is one of the things needed for playing Shogi and you're the no. one surprise ninja."

"That still doesn't mean I'm good," Naruto answered back.

"This conversation is getting troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled and closed his eyes. "Wake me up once I'm called, ok?"

"Sensei, why are there only six teams here?" Sakura asked after she finished reading the list aloud.

"I have the rest of the teams," Iruka explained. "Now I'll read the rest of the list. Team Seven is consisted of Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura squealed in delight while Sasuke winced. Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Your jounin-sensei will be Hatake Kakashi," Iruka read from the list. "Team Eight is consisted of Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata and Nara Shikamaru."

Naruto nudged his friend into wakefulness. "Your teammates are Chouji and Hinata-chan."

Shikamaru opened his eyes and saw Hinata waving shyly at him. He sighed, "How troublesome to be paired to the heiress."

"Well I think it's great," Naruto said and glared at Shikamaru. "Don't you?"

"Whatever," Shikamaru grumbled and closed his eyes again.

"Team Eleven consists of Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin-sensei is Hyuuga Haru."

* * *

A/n: I'm so sorry. This should have come out sooner (Try last week) but the computer suddenly went wacko on me. I honestly don't know when the next update will be. I mean, the computer still isn't working, plus, I'm pretty busy. (I don't want to talk about it) 

Quick note: Most of the techniques there are English unlike the usual Japanese ones. This is because I don't do translations and since they're all made up by me they will remain that way unless I find a translator.

Also, I imagined Sasuke's fight with Naruto to be longer but there's a reason why he gave up easily. And it's not because I have a small grudge against him...

Last note: The pairing for Naruto is still open.

If you think it sucks or is great or is plain Joe Average (don't know where that came from) then please tell me. It beats being in the dark with no idea if the story is actually worth writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own the Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl. This is Barry Lyga's property.

* * *

Chapter Six 

_"Team Eleven consists of Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin-sensei is Hyuuga Haru."_

* * *

Ino took a cautious sip from the bowl of hot steaming ramen and raised an eyebrow. This stuff was actually really good. Her eyes moved to stare at Naruto who was talking to Shino between bites. It looked more like a monologue than a dialogue in Ino's opinion. 

She didn't know what to expect of the blonde ninja. His performance earlier had shattered Ino's perception of Naruto as the dead last. This guy _was_ no dead last. Ino had to admit that he was probably even stronger than her.

"Neh, Ino-chan, did you like the ramen?" Naruto asked, snapping Ino from her thoughts.

She gave him a smile and nodded. "Yes, it's very good." _At least he isn't fat. _Ino thought wryly, remembering one of her father's friends.

"Of course it's good," Naruto quipped. "Ichiraku serves the best ramen!"

Ino smiled and looked at Shino. She almost screamed as she saw a bug crawl out of the guy's ear. She bit it back and frowned. _This guy is a bug-user. Gotta remember that. _Looking back at the boy's performance, Ino had to admit the guy was a genius as well. _At least he isn't lazy like someone I know. _She crinkled her nose at the thought.

A couple of meters away, Shikamaru sneezed.

"Someone must be thinking of you," Hinata said and smiled softly. Chouji offered Shikamaru a rice ball.

* * *

Sasuke stared darkly at the wall, his mind still on the fight. His hands twitched as he thought of the different jutsus he could have used given the situation. He clenched his fist and banged it against the wall. _Focus, Sasuke. That dobe is just a stepping stone. You did the right thing when you didn't show him all your techniques; there will be other fights, away from prying eyes. _

Footsteps made Sasuke stand up from his place at the rooftop. He turned around and saw Kiba who was holding a bento and Sakura who waved timidly at him. He frowned and crossed his arms.

"Hey, Sasuke, nice fight," Kiba said and sneered at his teammate. "The way Naruto kicked your ass was very enjoyable."

"Now, now, Kiba," Sakura said and smacked Kiba lightly against the shoulder, "I'm sure there's a reason why Sasuke lost. Right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Of course," Sasuke said and looked away. "It won't do me any good if I actually show all my trump cards at once. Only a _dobe_ like him would do something as idiotic."

Sakura beamed, "See, I knew Sasuke-kun wouldn't lose without a reason."

* * *

Haru looked up at the sky and pinched the bridge of his nose. The heat of the morning sun had made his head ache ferociously. Perhaps he could raid the main branch's clinic later for some aspirin. With a grin he jumped off a tree, his eyes staring at the direction of the Academy. It was time to pick up his ducklings.

* * *

"What's taking him so long?" Naruto whined. "I'm hungry." 

"We just ate lunch, Naruto," Ino remarked and rolled her eyes. "How many stomachs do you have to feed?"

Naruto frowned and stroked his beardless chin thoughtfully. He grinned, "Four, I think."

"You're such a cow, you know that, Naruto?" Ino grumbled.

Shino snorted, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Ino looked at Shino and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Care to enlighten us on what's so funny, Shino?"

"A—a cow has four stomachs," Shino said breathlessly and grinned. The usually stoic boy was nowhere to be seen. "I found your comment...hilarious."

"We thought Naruto was a cow too but then the medical staff from the hospital said we were just being delusional," a voice came from the window sill.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Very funny, Haru-sensei."

With a loud snap, the window was opened and a man appeared, standing on top of a desk. He had black hair tied in a braid, his eyes pale. He wore the traditional clothes of a jounin; a dark blue long-sleeved shirt underneath the jounin vest and tight-fitting pants of the same color. He waved at them and smiled. "Sorry about that; Jiro was always the one with the humor. I just provide the much needed laughter after he cracks a joke."

Naruto sighed and stood up. "Guys, meet my dad's best friend: Hyuuga Haru." Naruto nodded at his teammates, "Haru-sensei, my teammates, Shino and Ino. Hey, their names rhymed!" Naruto beamed.

"You have a father, Naruto?" Shino asked, his face finally returning to its normal frown. "I thought you were an orphan."

"It's a long story," Naruto said and shrugged. "I'll tell you guys about it some other time. Let's just say, yes, I was an orphan. And yes, I was adopted."

Shino opened his mouth to ask another question but Haru spoke first, "It's so stuffy in here. Tell you what, meet me at the front of the Academy and I'll bring you some place else." He turned to go when Kiba stood, slamming his hand against the table.

"Hey, sensei," Kiba said and crossed his arms. "Do you know who Kakashi-sensei is? He's supposed to be our jounin-sensei but he hasn't shown up yet."

Haru scratched his head. "I don't think I've seen him that often; he was always late at our meetings." He looked at them seriously. "I do know one thing."

"What's that sensei?" Sakura asked and perked up from her seat.

"No one has ever passed his survival test."

"Survival test?" Kiba asked, looking worried. "Iruka-sensei didn't—"

Haru winced. "Oops. Was that supposed to be a secret?" He grinned apologetically, "Gomen, gomen." He looked at his wrist. "Well, look at the time. We better get going guys." He motioned for Naruto and the others to move. He turned to look at Team Seven. "As for you three, a snooze is always good for your health. Remember that."

Haru disappeared in a flurry of leftover chalk dust and paper.

"I hope our sensei is not as cryptic as he is," Sasuke grumbled under his breath.

Kiba nodded silently in agreement.

* * *

The Hokage looked up from the document he was reading. "Aah, Iruka, what brings you here?" 

Iruka grinned sheepishly and placed a written report on the Hokage's desk. "I uh…did some last-minute changes on the teams."

The Third frowned. "Why didn't you consult with me?"

"There wasn't enough time," Iruka explained. "I wasn't exactly informed about Naruto's abilities. If I had known how strong he actually was…" Iruka frowned. "Did you know, Hokage-sama? About this?"

"I did." The Hokage said brusquely. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead. "I meant to put him with Uchiha."

"Why? With his level, it wouldn't be right to put two powerful children in one team." Iruka said. "It would feel like cheating, sir."

"I meant for him to watch over the boy. Besides, I had hoped that his cheerfulness would have some effect on the Uchiha kid."

* * *

Team Eleven or Team Hyuuga as they would later be called, sat on top of the Hokage Monument, watching their sensei walk back and forth. Unable to stand their stares any longer, Haru stopped and turned to face them. "Ok. Before I tell you what the survival test is all about, I think it best that we should introduce ourselves." He looked at them expectantly. 

They stared back. Finally Ino raised her arm much to Haru's relief.

"Sir, shouldn't you go first?" Ino asked.

Haru winced and sighed. "Very well." He sat in front of them in a lotus position. "My name is Hyuuga Haru of the Hyuuga lower branch. I have been teaching students for six years now." He cleared his throat and continued. "I like teaching kids, reading scrolls in my free time and listening to jokes." Naruto snorted. Haru ignored him. "I hate the Hyuuga branch system, men who regard knowledge as simply tools and—" he crinkled his nose in disgust, "—people who do not believe in change. My ambition is to be able to successfully guide my students until they are no longer in need of my help."

"And to collect every single type of bubblegum in the whole world." Naruto added smugly.

"And to collect every single type of bubblegum in the whole world." Haru repeated and glared at Naruto. "Since you know so much about me, please feel free to tell something about yourself."

Naruto grinned foxily, "Hai, sensei." He stood up. "I am Uzumaki Naruto of the Uzumaki clan. I have been a genin for—" he paused to think, "—two days now. I like ramen, Jiro-outo-san, new techniques and Ifrit-san. I hate people who hurt my precious friends, the three minutes it takes to cook ramen, memorizing hand seals and having to wear a green spandex suit." He threw his fist against the air, completing his Cool-Guy Pose. "My ambition is to one day become the Hokage and have everyone recognize my power!"

Haru nodded and turned to look at Shino who was watching Naruto silently. "You next, Aburame."

"Hai," was the quite reply. Shino stood up stiffly. "My name is Aburame Shino of the Aburame clan. My likes are: finding new breeds of insects and people who are interested in entomology." He pushed his black sunglasses up his nose and continued. "My dislikes are: bug-killers, other clans who wish to steal my clan's secrets and…those who have no regards of rules. My ambition is to succeed my father someday as the clan leader and look after my clan with the same resolve. That is all." He sat down.

At Haru's nod, Ino stood up and smiled. "I am Yamanaka Ino of the Yamanaka clan. My clan specializes on mind jutsus. I like flowers, making friends and shopping." Naruto rolled his eyes and made vomiting noises. Ino glared at him. "I hate immature and lazy men, people who trample on our flowers and being completely helpless. My ambition is to become a powerful kunoichi someday like the great medic-nin, Tsunade-sama." She sat down and crossed her arms, glowering at Naruto.

"Right," Haru clapped his hand once, making the three genins look at him. "The survival test will be conducted at Training Area 76 at exactly eight in the morning. If you are the slightest bit late, I'm afraid I must fail you."

Ino frowned. "Why, Sir? What's so bad about being late?"

"I believe that tardiness is a cause of failure," Haru replied. "There may come a time when you have to save someone. If you fail to be on time, then you have failed to save that person. Are we clear on this?"

The three genins nodded.

Haru looked up at the sky. "Any questions?"

"Why do we have to do a survival test?" Naruto asked. "Haven't we graduated yet?"

Haru looked at Naruto. Finally, after a few seconds of silence, he spoke. "Out of the twenty-seven candidates, only nine will be chosen as genin. The graduation is only an excuse to look for those who actually have the potential of ever becoming a genin."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. He was speechless. It was Ino who spoke, "Why can't we all just become genin? Why go to all this trouble?"

Haru smiled hesitantly, "You'll find out soon enough." He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto looked at the spot where Haru vanished, his thinking face on, "Dramatic, not too flashy, has a sort of mysterious tinge…definitely cool material." He pulled out a tattered pad of paper and began taking notes.

After a couple of minutes, Ino peered at Naruto's shoulder, her face bordering on a frown. "You done taking notes, Fanboy?"

Naruto finished writing with a flourish and glared at Ino as he pocketed his pad of paper. "I propose we have a meeting," he said haughtily.

Ino slammed her fist against Naruto's head, "Stop being so arrogant."

Naruto nursed his aching head, a pout on his face. "That's how your Pretty Boy acts and yet you don't hit _him_ in the head!"

Ino spluttered, "_My_ Pretty Boy? You think I like that arrogant ass?" Ino sniffed and looked away, "I just do that to spite Forehead Girl."

"Umm…guys? Can you stop it with the names? You lost me with Pretty Boy." Shino said quietly.

"Sorry, Shino," Naruto said and smiled apologetically. He glowered at Ino, "_I_ still think we should have a meeting."

"What for? So we can discuss about _your_ love life? We all know you have a thing for Forehead Girl!" Ino huffed.

Naruto smirked, "Jealous?"

Ino screamed in frustration. Shino frowned. "What for?"

"I think we should have a more detailed introduction," Naruto explained, ignoring Ino's cursing. "None of us were friends at school so we barely know each other." He shrugged. "Besides, it'd be good if we know each other's strengths and weaknesses, as well as ninjutsus, genjutsus and the level of taijutsu each one of us possess. That way, if we are to work together, it'd be much easier."

Ino stopped in mid-curse and nodded thoughtfully. "Fanboy's got a point."

Shino nodded, "I agree."

Ino looked at Shino and grinned. "On the Fanboy thing? Cool!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well?" He asked them testily. "Do we meet or not?"

"Oh, definitely," Ino nodded. She beamed, "Why don't we have our meeting at my house? Over dinner?"

Shino nodded while Naruto grinned. "Sure! I bet your mom is a great cook!"

Ino smiled back. "Seven then?" The two boys nodded. "Good." She turned to go but stopped and looked back, "Oh, and Naruto, I suggest wearing something else." She crinkled her nose. "Mom hates it when her guests wear filthy clothes."

"Teme! My clothes are not filthy!" Naruto huffed indignantly. "I'm pretty proud of these stains."

Shino bowed politely at Ino and dragged Naruto who shook his fist angrily, shouting curses at the top of his lungs. Once they were out of the blonde ninja's sight, Shino let go of Naruto's shirt. "What did you that for that?" Naruto demanded.

Shino looked at him seriously, "It is best not to argue with women, Naruto. Remember that."

* * *

Naruto rummaged through his closet, pulling shirt after shirt from the wooden drawers. Jiro peered from behind the door; green eyes flitted around the room. Finally, he spoke. "Why the mess, Naruto?" 

"I'm going to Ino's house for dinner and I don't know what to wear!" Naruto whined.

"What's wrong with the clothes you're wearing?" Jiro asked.

"Apparently, they're not good enough," Naruto grumbled. "My clothes are not filthy!"

"Well, you haven't washed them for three days now," Jiro pointed out.

"You're not helping," came the muffled reply. Jiro sighed and walked across the room. He pulled Naruto from underneath the pile of clothes.

"Then I'll help." Jiro said and started picking up Naruto's mess. "You're going to some girl's place right? You're not dating her are you?"

"No!" Naruto replied and made a face. "I am never gonna date Ino! Even if it means getting the Hokage's title."

Jiro chuckled. "I said the same things. Years ago."

"Course you can't date Ino, outo-san." Naruto said matter-of-factly. "First of all, she's too young for you. Second, I would never allow it."

Jiro rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean this Ino-san you keep talking about." He picked up a dark green shirt and threw it at Naruto's face. "I used to have a teammate who was as annoying as hell."

"Really?" Naruto asked curiously, "What happened to her?"

Jiro shrugged. "She disappeared seven years ago." Sad green eyes looked at Naruto. "She's been a missing-nin ever since."

"And what does this have to do with Ino?" Naruto asked as he changed his shirt.

Jiro smirked. "Oh you'll find out…in a couple of years."

"Ehh?! What's that suppose to mean?" Naruto asked, his face a mixture of disgust and confusion.

Jiro tilted his head. "That means…I honestly can't tell you. " He grinned at Naruto. "Like I said, you'll find out…soon."

Naruto smacked his head and rolled his eyes. "_That's _what I don't understand. What _exactly_ do I have to find out? That Ino is actually a harbinger of evil and that we should throw her in jail before she goes missing-nin on us?!"

Jiro shook his head sadly, "Kids."

* * *

Ino opened the door and grinned as she let her two teammates in. Naruto had taken Ino's advice and had changed into a dark green shirt and black pants, bandages covered his forearms. Ino raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your arms, Naruto?" 

The whisker-marked genin smiled sheepishly, "Experimenting accident. I got my arms burnt."

Ino nodded and ushered them inside, leading them into the dining room. There, her father, Yamanaka Inoichi, peered from the newspaper he was reading and grinned. "And here I was hoping the Hokage would make another Ino-Shika-Cho team." He stood up and offered Shino his hand. "You're from the Aburame clan, right?" Shino nodded and shook the man's hand.

Naruto jumped besides him and offered Inoichi his hand. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you, Ino's outo-san." Inoichi hesitated, having seen the all-too familiar whisker marks. Naruto frowned. "What's the matter, Ino's outo-san?" He looked at his hand. "I swear I washed 'em before I came here."

Inoichi let out a nervous laugh and grabbed Naruto's hand. He shook it briefly and beckoned for them to sit. "Sit, please. My wife, Yuka, cooked something special for you guys."

Naruto's eyes widened in delight, "Yosh! I shall eat like a king tonight."

Ino clenched her fist and slammed it against Naruto. "Do you always think with your stomach?!"

"Itai!" Naruto cried out in pain. He rubbed his head sullenly and pouted. "You don't have to be so mean, Ino-chan."

Inoichi chuckled. "Naruto-kun's right, Ino."

Ino pulled out her tongue. Besides her, Yuka smiled, her hand touched Ino's shoulder lightly. They looked at each other and rolled their eyes. "Men."

Inoichi frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," the two chorused.

Irritated, Naruto sat down with a huff. "I will eat like a king. Whether you like it or not."

Ino sighed and sat beside him while Shino sat at the other side. Yuka giggled. "Well, it's a good thing I cooked a meal fit for one." She frowned, her brows crinkling, "Although, I was expecting someone fatter."

Ino glowered at her father who smiled sheepishly. "Like I said, I was expecting a second-generation Ino-Shika-Cho team. I mean, the Hokage hinted very strongly on it." He explained. "That's why I told your oka-san to prepare a large dinner; I thought we were going to have an Akimichi as a guest."

Naruto cleared his throat. "Now, we all know why we're here. I—"

"You're here to eat, right?" Inoichi asked.

Naruto waved the comment offhandedly. "Besides that, we're also going to discuss about each other's ninjutsus—"

Yuka groaned and looked at Inoichi sweetly. "May I be excused, darling? Ninja stuff bores me."

Shino glared at Naruto before he could comment. Naruto sighed. "As I was saying, we're here to discuss about each other's strengths and weaknesses." He looked at Shino. "Why don't you go first?"

"Above average Taijutsu level, average family ninjutsu, and no genjutsu whatsoever." Shino replied curtly.

Naruto nodded as he helped himself to a bowl of steaming rice. "Can you tell me what kind of ninjutsus you know?"

Shino looked at Naruto for a while. Finally he spoke, "Usually, I can control my bugs at a certain level. This means that jutsus are not really necessary. But, if you really are intent in my jutsus, I must say I am quite adept at Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu."

Naruto looked at Shino and blinked. He wasn't really that used to hearing Shino make a speech. Even a little one. He managed to regain his composure and nodded briefly. "Controlling your bugs without the use of hand seals is certainly an advantage." He sipped a bit of his soup. "As for your taijutsu skills, perhaps we could test them tomorrow?"

Shino nodded, "It would be a pleasure to spar with you."

Ino, who had been listening for the most part, finally said, "What about me?"

"I'll fight you too, Ino." Naruto said and grinned.

Ino sighed. "That's not what I meant." Ino looked down at her own cup.

"Well, what exactly did you mean?" Naruto asked.

"What about my skills?"

"Oh," Naruto scratched his head. "Well go on. Tell us about your techniques."

Ino took a deep breath. "My taijutsu is pretty much average. I don't know any genjutsus, and my ninjutsu is nothing special. Just basic academy stuff." She said offhandedly. "And the only family taijutsu I know is the Shintenshin no Jutsu."

"Which will soon be remedied, I can promise you that," Inoichi said seriously.

Naruto gulped down some fish. "Thank you, Ino's outo-san. We appreciate your effort into this." He said, his face as serious as Inoichi's own. He looked at his two teammates. "I'm not really sure about my taijutsu skills." Naruto admitted. "My ninjutsu on the other hand..." He beamed and did a pose. "I'm definitely good at it."

"What about genjutsu?" Ino asked curiously.

Naruto's grin widened. "Just average, I guess." He said. "I do know a genjutsu that could send even the most strongest of men whimpering."

"Really?" Inoichi asked, his face brightening up.

Naruto's grin vanished and he pouted, "But it only works on the perverted kind."

"Oh, those sort of jutsus," Inoichi said and nodded sagely. Yuka hit his arm. "What did you that for, woman?"

"Duck," Ino whispered urgently. The two obeyed as Inoichi went flying through the air.

Naruto pulled off an imaginary hat and shook his head gravely before returning to his food. Ino smacked her head and sighed.

"I'm alright," Inoichi said as he slowly stood up.

"So Naruto, what about your ninjutsus? Any family ones you know?" Ino asked, ignoring her father who was making pained noises.

"The Uzumaki clan specializes on jutsu creation and modification," Naruto explained, "so basically, if I was to list every family jutsu I know, it'd take forever."

"You said you have a father, Naruto." Shino pointed out.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Well, it really _is_ a long story."

* * *

Naruto stretched and grunted. "Remember what I said, no ninjutsus and no genjutsus; this fight is purely taijutsu. You ready?" 

Shino pulled off the weights he carried under his jacket and the ones under his pants. Stretching a bit, he nodded.

An explosion of dust signaled the start of their fight. Naruto jumped into the air and threw two shuriken towards Shino. Shino dodged both and threw three of his own. Naruto pulled out his daggers and used them to knock out the shuriken in flight. He slammed his daggers down. Shino caught them under two kunai and pushed Naruto back. Throwing one of his kunai to distract Naruto, Shino drew some wire out of his weapon holster and disappeared.

Wiping the sweat out of his eyes, Naruto looked around his surroundings wearily. He turned around to face the kunais that flew towards him. They missed. All of them. Naruto frowned. "What's the big idea, Shino? I didn't even have to raise my daggers. Let alone move."

A kunai flew down his feet. An exploding tag was wrapped around it. Naruto cursed and tried to escape but found that wires were entangled around him. He touched one with his fingertip and winced as blood appeared from his wound. "I didn't ask for you to kill—"

The explosion cut off his words. When the smoke had cleared, Naruto stood up with a sigh. He turned to look at Ino who was watching them fight. "What do you think, Ino?"

"Well, obviously, he won," Ino pointed out coolly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I mean us. Our taijutsu level, how was it?"

Ino crossed her arms and frowned. "In terms of speed and strength, you are better than him. He's better at accuracy though." Ino smiled sweetly. "And thinking too," she added.

Naruto made a face and turned to shake Shino's hand. "You're really good Shino. I bet Sasuke couldn't do what you did under pressure."

"Your speed and strength are commendable…for a genin." Shino said calmly.

"So, Ino, who do you want to fight?" Naruto asked, turning to face the blonde ninja.

Ino looked at Naruto thoughtfully. Finally she spoke, "I'll fight Shino." She smiled a bit. "No offense, Naruto, but you're hurt. If we're going to survive the Survival training, I need you in one piece."

Naruto snorted, "Like you'd do much harm." He dodged the kunai Ino threw at him and bowed. "Your throwing is commendable." He said, using Shino's words.

Ino pulled out her tongue and turned to face Shino. She took out two kunais and moved into a fighting position. "Let's get this over with."

Shino nodded. He crossed the kunais he had pulled out of his holster and disappeared. Ino looked around wearily. "You do know that that trick won't work twice."

Shino appeared behind Ino and slammed his foot against Ino's shoulder. "I don't do repeat performances."

Ino rolled and moved to a crouch. Throwing a kunai towards Shino, she jumped and flipped on top of a tree branch.

"Good, coz—coz…oh crud." Ino groaned. "How come you got a witty line?"

Shino shrugged. He vanished again, but this time for a moment, and appeared on top of the tree trunk in a crouch-like position. He pushed himself off and threw a shuriken Ino quickly dislodged from flight. Shino twisted in mid-air and slammed his heel, aiming for Ino's shoulder.

Ino grunted in pain. Letting go of the kunai she held in her hand, she grabbed Shino's foot and sent him crashing against a tree. She heard clapping.

"I think I can guess what'll happen next," Naruto said, a smirk planted on his face. "From my view, Shino's taijutsu skills are indeed above average. He's speed, now that I think of it, is probably better than mine."

Ino jumped down from the branch. "But you were faster than him when I saw you fight."

"I have a lot more stamina," Naruto explained. "Which means I can do fast but I waste a lot more energy than that guy over there," he nodded to Shino. "As for you, your skills are average," Naruto said and beamed at Ino, "Your stamina is fuelled by your determination to win though, which means you can take a lot of impact before anyone could ever stop you."

Ino crossed her arms, "Is that a complement?"

"I do believe it is," Naruto bowed. Looking up at the sun, he frowned. "Don't you think sensei is a bit late?"

"He was too busy watching you guys play." The three looked up to see their teacher on top of a tree branch. He plucked a small scroll from out of his pocket and grinned. His hands moved quickly, forming seals Naruto could barely make out. Jumping down, he slammed the scroll against the ground. "Special Summoning Contract: Shadow Beasts!"

Jumping away, he began forming other seals. "Activate!" The three genin turned around to see Jiro as well as a red-eyed woman, standing around them. Both had the same last seal formed.

A multi-colored barrier appeared enclosed around the three genins. Haru smiled. "Survival training begins now." Nodding towards the other two jounin, Haru bowed. "Thanks for the assistance, Jiro…Kurenai-san."

"No problem," Jiro said and vanished, appearing beside Haru. "I wanna see how much my son has grown."

Kurenai smiled. "I should thank you, Haru. You're giving me ideas for when I make up my own survival test." She raised a hand, "Ja."

"Naruto…" Shino called out. Naruto tore his gaze from Haru and turned around. True to their name, shadow-like creatures emerged from the trees and underneath the ground.

Taking out a kunai, Naruto frowned. "What're we supposed to do? Kill them?"

Ino slashed a beast in half and shrugged. "You got any better ideas, Fanboy?"

"Stop calling me that," Naruto said touchily. Naruto clones appeared around him forming a small shield. Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Haru. "Care to explain?"

"Oh, right…sorry," Haru smiled sheepishly and cleared his throat. "There are two scrolls hidden underneath the area. One will deactivate all the jutsus we have placed…the other will give you a nasty surprise. Your mission is simple—"

"You want us to look for the right scroll and deactivate the jutsus," Naruto cut in. He grinned. Looking at Shino, he said, "When I give you the signal, spread your insects around the place to look for the two scrolls. We are going to look for both."

"Why? Ino asked. "Won't it be easier to look for just one?"

"And what if we get the wrong one?" Naruto countered.

"I am not finished," Haru said, disgruntled. "You have exactly five minutes to finish this mission," he added haughtily.

Naruto's jaw dropped. He turned around and formed seals. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A large fireball appeared from Naruto's mouth engulfing the shadowy beasts in flames. This was followed by a water jutsu that extinguished them. Nodding to Shino, Naruto summoned some clones by his side to stop more beasts from reappearing.

Jiro raised an eyebrow as he watched the three work together. Looking at Haru, he noticed that the man was astonished as well. Jiro grinned. "Naruto got his leadership skills from me," he said proudly.

Haru glared at him. "As I remember…you were a dark antisocial ass before Kyoko changed you. Not a leader."

"Don't remind me," Jiro grumbled darkly.

"Like I said…dark antisocial ass," Haru said.

"And you were a snobby son of a golem," Jiro snapped.

"You forgot to say: until Kyoko changed you," Haru retorted.

"You know, sensei…" Haru turned to look at Naruto and saw that the barrier had fallen and the three were watching them with mild interest. "That survival test sucked."

Haru grinned. "Whoever said it was over yet?"

A large roar filled the air. Turning around, the three saw a fiend in the shape of a large black dog with glowing yellow eyes. He had two extra legs in the front and had a pair of spiraling horns planted on top of his head.

"How the hell do we defeat this thing?" Naruto asked, waving his arms.

"I don't know! You're the genius here," Ino answered back.

Naruto hid behind a tree. "I am not gonna fight that thing!" Naruto shouted, wrapping his arms around his knees.

Haru felt a sweatdrop coming. "I didn't know your son was such a coward, Jiro."

"And this is the boy who faced the Kyuubi at the tender age of ten…" Jiro muttered under his breath.

Apparently, Naruto heard this because he stood up and yelled, "That's because I was a stupid little kid back then, old man!"

"Well at least it's better than a stupid coward!" Jiro growled. "And I am not an old man!"

Naruto crossed his arms and was about to storm off when Ino screamed his name.

"Uzumaki Naruto, get your butt here and help us!" Ino said, waving a fist at him. She was being tossed into the air by the beast who was amused by the girl's antics.

An extra head appeared from the fiend's body. Watching the girl fly in the air, the extra head grinned. "This is fun, Aniki," the beast spoke in a deep baritone.

Naruto beamed. "A damsel in distress! I must save her at once."

"Is it just me…or is your son crazy?" Haru asked Jiro quietly.

Naruto jumped and landed on top of the fiend's head. Grabbing the fiend's horns, he spoke to Shino who was avoiding the fiend's paws. "Do you still have some wire, Shino?"

Shino looked up and raised an eyebrow. Realizing what Naruto wanted him to do, he shook his head briefly. "Not enough to trap him, Naruto."

"You don't have to, Shino." Naruto said. "Just place a net in front of him."

Shino shrugged and moved to stand on top of a tree branch. Pulling out some wire from his weapon holster, he began to work.

Naruto let one of his hands go and formed a sheep seal. Calling forth his chakra, he took a deep breath before shouting, "Experimental Uzumaki Technique: Lightning Crash!"

A bolt of lightning slammed against his body, moving through his veins and into the large beast. Gasping for air, Naruto fell to his knees.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked up and grinned weakly. He jumped and caught Ino who was screaming for the entire world to hear.

"You bloody poop! I almost got hit." The girl said, beating Naruto with a fist.

"I just saved your dumb ass and this is how you repay me?" Naruto asked, looking slightly hurt.

"Naruto," Shino called out. "I've finished putting the wire in front of the beast."

Naruto threw Ino towards Shino who caught the girl deftly. He moved to stand in front of the net and began pouring in his chakra. The shadow beast struggled to move but found that he couldn't. "What did you do to me, boy?" The older of the two heads growled.

"I made you stop moving," Naruto said dryly, "isn't it obvious?"

"Aniki," the younger whined, "I wanna kick the crap out of him."

"We will," the older grumbled, "as soon as I can move."

Naruto turned to look at his teammates. "Wait here." Whistling a jaunty tune, he walked slowly to the back where he could see the beast's behind. His hands moved to form a familiar set of seals. "Experimental Uzumaki Technique: Elemental Weapon Creation!"

His hands glowed for a brief moment before a whip made of lightning materialized under his grasp. "Prepare to get whipped, boys."

Ino, who was watching the whole thing, covered her eyes. "This is going to get real messy."

The dark beast howled in pain and found himself moving towards the net. "Aniki, we're going to crash!"

Haru had to admit it was disturbing, the way the body parts of the beast fell through the net. _At least we don't have to clean up after._ He thought as he watched the sliced and diced bits dissolve into the ground.

"So, did we pass or what?"

Haru looked at them thoughtfully. "Well…judging from the way you three worked together…I say…"

* * *

Kakashi glared at his students who looked guiltily at each other. In the middle of the group was Kiba who was tied against the wooden post. Beside him was Akamaru who also shared the same fate. 

Dark clouds rolled through the horizon. "You all…"

* * *

Asuma grinned at his students who were lying on the grass. All three were tired from the fight and had promptly fell to the ground. Shikamaru was already asleep. 

Rubbing an imaginary tear, he sniffed. "You all passed."

* * *

A/N: Damn you, Thomas! Why the hell did you give us a damn filler?!

I am terribly sorry about this. I don't like fillers too, you know. As for the Ino/Naruto hints... All I can say is, if you want it to happen, it'll happen. If you don't, it'll still happen...just not as long-lived.

New poll: Should Naruto learn about magic too like in the Final Fantasy series? Or should I stick to jutsus? If you think I should give Naruto magical powers, which magical system do you prefer? FF8's draw system wherein Naruto draws his magic from the earth as well as certain magical artifacts or FF6(Japanese version) magical system wherein Naruto simply learns different spells by junctioning different aeons?

Again, I don't know when the next update will be. All I can say is, it'll be shorter than this one.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Experimental Uzumaki Technique: Fire Blades!" Naruto said and yelped as scythe-like flames sprung from his arms. He ran towards the river and plunged his hands against the icy stream. Sighing in relief, he pulled them out and examined them carefully. "How do I protect my arms from getting burnt?"

"Na-Naruto-kun! A-are you alright?"

Naruto turned around and hid his arms guiltily. "Hinata-chan…" He smiled sheepishly. About to scratch his head in embarrassment, he remembered he was supposed to hide his arm. "I'm fine."

Hinata looked down and twiddled her thumbs, her face red, "I-I don't think you are."

"Aah! Hinata-chan sees right through me," Naruto whined and pouted. Reluctantly, he brought his arms in front of him.

Hinata gasped. Fumbling in panic, she searched for some healing balm in her pockets. When she found one, she offered it to Naruto, "Y-you can use this, Naruto-kun."

Naruto beamed, "Arigatou, Hinata-chan. You're so nice." Taking the small jar solemnly, he pulled the cork carefully and sat in a lotus position. He screwed his face in concentration as he dabbed a bit of the balm to his burnt skin.

Hinata watched him quietly.

"Neh, Hinata-chan," Naruto said, still busy applying the balm on his skin.

Hinata blushed and looked down. _Did he know I was staring at him? _"What is it, Na-Naruto-kun?"

"I heard Haru-sensei was your former teacher. Is that true?" Naruto asked.

"Hai, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered.

"Is he a good teacher?" Naruto looked up and grinned shyly. "Only, you see, he's our jounin-sensei and all and-and I just want to know if he's good or not. I've only met him a couple of times. Most of the things I know about him are from my father's stories."

Hinata smiled. "Haru-san is funny but very serious when it comes to training. He is really nice to me and encourages me to learn even when I am making mistakes. I think he's good at teaching different students because he knows how to adapt to their attitudes."

Naruto felt his jaw drop. "Hinata-san didn't even stutter." He beamed. "You must really like Haru-sensei."

Hinata's face reddened once more as she looked down. "He-he is very nice to me e-even though he is a branch member." She stuttered. "I'm envious of Naruto-kun for having him as his teacher."

Naruto nodded. "Well, he is a good man."

* * *

"Oy, oy," Ino said and tapped her foot impatiently. "Where've you been, Naruto?" 

"Aaah! Gomen, gomen, Ino," Naruto scratched his head. "I was talking to Hinata-chan and I sorta forgot the time."

Ino gaped. "You? And Hinata?" She poked Shino's ribs. "Can you believe it, Shino? Him and Hinata?!"

Naruto blinked. "I don't get it. What are you so hyped about?"

She pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. "You didn't tell me you were dating Hinata!"

Naruto fell to the floor. His face red, he waved his arms frantically. "I am not dating Hinata!!! We were just talking!"

Ino looked at Naruto and waited. After a few seconds, she began tapping her foot once more. Finally, she smiled triumphantly. "Aha! I knew it!"

"You knew what?"

"You_ like_ Hinata! How do I know this?" Ino asked, smiling. "That's because you didn't say the magical words: _I don't like her that way_."

Naruto spluttered. "That-that isn't fair!" He shouted indignantly. "I_ do_ like her. _As_ a _friend._"

Ino looked at him smugly. "Keep telling yourself that, Fanboy."

"Fanboy?" A voice inquired from above a tree. They looked up. "Cute nickname, Naruto." Haru said and grinned. "It suits you."

"It_ does_ not!" Naruto shook his fist angrily. "Why is _everyone_ teasing me?!"

"I'm not, Naruto," Shino said calmly.

"You don't count coz you don't talk at all!"

Haru jumped down and whispered loudly to Ino, "All Kyozuka men stop thinking rationally when their women are being talked about. Actually, they stop thinking at all when it comes to women."

Naruto fell to his knees, shouting, "Hinata is not my woman or girl or whatever! Stop talking like we're an item."

Haru looked at Naruto in surprise. "You're not?" He raised his arms in defense when he saw Naruto dropped to all fours, growling. "Ok, ok, the teasing session stops now."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, dusting off the dirt on his knees. "Are we gonna start on missions today, Haru-sensei?"

Haru nodded. "Yes, missions start today. Before that though, I need to talk to you guys."

Ino sat on the grass as Naruto dropped unceremoniously besides her. Shino remained standing. Naruto raised a hand. "What're we going to talk about, Sensei? I want to do missions now! Can't it wait?"

Haru sighed. The boy really _was_ for too energetic for his own good. "There is something you have to know before we start our missions." He paused and looked at them carefully. When no one spoke, he continued, "Most of the missions assigned to you will be D-Class missions."

Ino raised her hand and asked. "D-Class missions?"

"Also known as dirty work. You're gonna walk some dogs, look for missing pets, repaint entire houses, do some gardening, pick some trash, baby-sitting, senior-sitting—"

"What?!" Naruto stood up, his jaw hanging. "I worked so hard just to pass that stupid exam and for what? Watching over old _men_?"

Haru glared at Naruto. "Hey, some of those old men _and women_ happen to be veterans of war; retired ninjas who can _still_ kick your ass."

"Bring it on then!"

Haru blinked. "I'm not a retired ninja over the age of sixty. Besides, even that is too dangerous for you three."

"What do you mean?" Ino asked. "I thought it was a D-Class mission."

"Oh, it is," Haru nodded seriously. "But we only let the more _experienced_ Genin do the work."

Naruto snorted. "How hard can it be?"

* * *

Hiroshi, age twenty-eight, was reading one of those cheap paperback novels when he heard a crash against his windowsill. Unperturbed—he was used to people crashing against various places in his house after all—he turned a page and paused as he calculated the amount he would receive from the insurance company. _Not a lot._ He thought and sighed. 

"You think you can catch me?" A voice rose from Hiroshi's kitchen. The young man tilted his head. No, he didn't think there was anything of value there. He continued reading. "You're still a hundred years too young, my boy!"

"You're going down old man!"

Hiroshi yawned. Placing a bookmark over the page he was reading, he trudged to the kitchen to get a glass of milk.

"Take this! Old Man Technique: The Tickle of Doom!"

"What? There's no such thing as a—" The yellow-haired boy burst into laughter as the old man tickled him senselessly. Hiroshi avoided the pair, got his glass of milk and returned to his seat. He heard the doorbell ring.

"Sato-san?"

Hiroshi smiled, "Good afternoon, Suzuki-san. Can I help you?"

The young woman dressed in a nurse's uniform smiled back. "I believe one of our charges has escaped. Have you seen him? Only, Tanaka-san was hiding here just last week and the ninja we asked for..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at him hopefully.

Hiroshi scratched his head. "Well I don't know about hiding…"

Suzuki wrinkled her brows thoughtfully. "What do you mean, Sato-san?"

"Get back here!"

Hiroshi and Suzuki turned to the source of the noise and saw a small old man being chased by a blonde boy wearing the forehead protector of Konoha. Suzuki sighed, "Oh dear."

* * *

Haru was getting another headache. Biting back a sigh, he watched his two students argue. He knew that they would have a hard time with the mission but Naruto insisted and Haru had agreed, thinking, if he wants to get his pride injured by an old man then so be it. 

After following the man into a residential house near the old retirement home, the boy had used his shadow clone technique, calling forth hundreds of Naruto-clones, and had almost destroyed the house because he had called too many. The good thing about this was that the old man had gotten trapped inside, giving Shino and Ino a chance to immobilize him.

Naruto was not pleased with the results. Ino was not pleased at all.

"Why do we have to do such boring missions, anyway?" Naruto asked, breaking Haru's chain of thought.

"Because of two things," Haru said, placing a hand over Naruto's shoulder. "First of all, you, all of you, need to learn patience. As a ninja, there are times when absolutely nothing will happen." He looked at the three carefully. "You may be given an A-Class mission to guard a VIP and find that no one, not even bandits, will attack you along the way."

"Or we can be assigned to an infiltration mission and find that there was nothing worth infiltrating," Ino added.

"A good example, Ino," Haru said, smiling. Lifting his index and ring finger, he said, "the second reason is: you don't trust each other completely. Yes, I've _seen_ you work together and I _know_ that you're all trying hard to make this team work but there are still some problems. You in particular, Naruto."

"What?" Naruto crossed his arms, pouting. "I helped too, you know! I thought up the practice session, didn't I? I should be leader, now that I think about it. I—"

"Oh I_ know_ that you're a good leader," Haru spoke firmly, his eyes leveled with the boy's blue ones. "But what the team needs is someone calm and cool-headed. You are easily excited, provoked…a bundle of emotions. Choosing you would be a risk."

Naruto looked down, shoulders drooping. "What do I have to do? How do I become a good leader?"

* * *

"What are we waiting for?" Naruto demanded, wiping the sweat off his face; the heat of the sun was making him perspire. 

Haru yawned. "You'll find out." He felt movement to his left and grinned. "Five seconds from now."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "One, two, three, fo—"

"Yo!" Naruto fell face down as a figure sat on top of him.

"Geroff me!!!" Naruto growled, waving an arm weakly.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto," Jiro stood up and offered the boy a hand. "I really thought you were a chair."

"So these are your underlings, Haru," A broad-shouldered man with scars etched across his face, grinned. "A tad bit small, don't you think?"

"You were pretty small when you were their age, Ibiki-sempai." Jiro said.

The man grunted. "Don't remind me."

"Ibiki-sempai?" Naruto asked.

"He was a year older than us," Haru explained.

"So who's the brat I'm going to teach?" Ibiki asked looking at Haru's students. "Don't tell me it's the blondie."

"Which blondie?" Haru asked innocently.

"Naruto's mine," Jiro stated firmly, his hand on the boy's shoulder.

The scarred man lifted his hands and shrugged. "I don't need a fighter, Jiro. My work deals with interrogation and torture."

"Which is why I think Ino will be perfect for your work," Haru pointed out.

After a quick glance at Ino's direction, Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "A Yamanaka?" He grinned. "She will be useful in our line of work. The question is: does she have what it takes?"

"She looks tough enough, Ibiki-sempai." Haru said. "Try not to break her though. Her father will kill me if you do."

"Does that mean you will teach Shino, Sensei?"

The man nodded, "Yes, Naruto."

The boy tilted his head. "It kinda sounds like favoritism to me."

Haru shook his head. "It's not; it's just that his skills are a lot like mine in the sense that both can be used for gathering information and scouting."

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding. "It does sound sensible, actually."

They all agreed on a fixed schedule. Individual training would start on Friday afternoon after a morning of D-class missions. This individual training would continue afterwards every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon and would only be interrupted if either the teachers or the students had a mission which involved a long period of days outside of Konoha. In that case, another teacher would take over or Haru would assign them some individual work, even while in a mission. They were instructed to write reports of their progress—a task the three Genin were not looking forward to—and submit them after a month of training.

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were spent in group study, from more group tests to planning out strategies. At this point, Naruto spoke up, saying that he would like to use some of that time as well to train his two teammates on different ninjutsus and genjutsus that he had already perfected. This request was met with some disapproval—mostly from the burly jounin who didn't know Naruto as much as the others did—but in the end Haru consented with a few conditions. One, there should always be an adult present during those training days and two, Naruto was to write a detailed report of all the jutsus he planned to teach with instructions on how to execute them as well as a description of what these jutsus can actually do.

Having come to a close, they ended the meeting and went their separate ways. Naruto headed for the Uzumaki manor to plan. There was a lot of jutsus he wanted the other two to learn. Plus, he was getting awfully hungry.

* * *

Jiro walked through the large gate of the Kyozuka estate and stopped for a moment, letting his eyes wander around the whole house. After the brief discussion he and the others had, he knew that it was time to clean some places and prepare. With Friday only two days away, he needed that particular place to be prepared for Naruto's training. The boy was now a full fledged ninja and Jiro knew that it was time for him to unlock some more aspects of the Kyozuka bloodline. How long it would take, he didn't know.

* * *

A/N: First of all, I will not come out of this measly hastily-made barrel in order to get hit by rotten tomatoes. Let's face it. No one likes rotten tomatoes. 

Secondly, I'm very sorry that it has taken me this long to update. I was kidnapped by an evil plot bunny who wanted me to feed it carrots and help it rule the world. I'm also very sorry because this is a rather short chapter. And the next chapters will be just as short. Why? Because I'm going to try and write two stories at once. Most people can write thousands of words in a day, but I'm not as lucky so if you're going to expect a chapter a week (I have my fingers crossed), you're going to get shorter chapters.

And yes, there is a small Hinata/Naruto scene up there, confirming that their ship will happen. (If not in the distant future.)


End file.
